Catholic Life - August 2011

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Catholic Life

Publication of the Diocese of Sale

Celebrate with our migrants - Page 3

ISSUE 153

August 2011

Latin Mass returns to cathedral - Page 5

Presbytery move welcome for Iona priest - Page 13

Fr Speekman case ends A LONG-running dispute between a Morwell Catholic priest and his former bishop over the running of the parish has ended with the Vatican judging in favor of the bishop.

The Vatican’s highest judicial authority has judged that the now retired Bishop Jeremiah Coffey was correct in removing Fr John Speekman as parish priest in 2003.

Fr Speekman twice success-

fully appealed to the Congregation for the Clergy against the decree ordering his removal, but Bishop Coffey then appealed those decisions to the Apostolic Signatura.

In announcing an end to the eight year dispute, current Bishop of Sale Christopher Prowse outlined the eight year history, including the adjudications in favor of Fr Speekman in 2004 and 2006, and the ultimate appeal against those decisions by Bishop Coffey in 2007.

He said that the latest decision was a definitive judgement from the supreme apostolic tribunal at the Vatican and could not be challenged.

Bishop Prowse said the Signatura had judged that the Congregation for the Clergy was correct in the procedure in which it reached its decision, however, it did not consider all the reasons presented to it by Bishop Coffey.

“My prayer and hope is that this definitive judgement by the Signatura will help us to

move to a closure and healing of this vexed issue.

“I am grateful for the patience and priestly zeal that both Bishop Coffey and Fr Speekman have demonstrated in these many years of waiting.”

Bishop Prowse has temporarily appointed Fr Speekman as assistant priest in the cathedral parish in Sale and will discuss with him suitable possibilities for a fresh appointment in the Diocese of Sale.

The bishop has also called

for expressions of interest from other priests who would be interested in being appointed the parish priest at Morwell.

The parish has been has been run by several administrators since Fr Speekman’s removal in July 2003.

• Read the Bishop’s full statement on the Apostolic Signatura’s announcement and also the statement read to Morwell parishioners on July 31 - Page 8

Cathedral attracts a massive flock of little corellas

A FLOCK of up to 300 little corellas (casatua sanguinea) has decided to descend on the St Mary’s Cathedral precincts every evening just before dark.

The noisy cockatoos gnaw on tree branches, electricity wires, paintwork and even the hot mix bitumen at the adjacent St Mary’s School.

Corellas are not considered indigenous to Gippsland but moved in during the past 20 years, particularly during the prolonged drought, and are now

competing with the sulphurcrested cockatoos for nesting hollows.

The can be found over most of central and south Gippsland.

Help restore St Mary’s Cathedral Bishop Christopher Prowse has launched an appeal to raise up to $1 million to restore and enhance the Mother Church of the Diocese of Sale.

Please be generous in your giving.

Send donations to Cathedral Appeal, Reply Paid 508, Sale, 3853 * Credit card form can be downloaded at www.sale.catholic.org.au. Fill-in on line, print, sign and post.

The flock pictured here is descending on the grass patch around the Sacred Heart statue which stands between the cathedral and bishop’s house

Page 2 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Marriage, the Family and the World Youth Day DEAR Friends in Christ,

There are about 50 youth from the Diocese of Sale currently in Spain for World Youth Day. This is a very healthy number.

Please pray for us on our pilgrimage to meet the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in Madrid. I will lead the delegation.

It has been interesting for me to meet the pilgrims and some of their families. There seems to be much love and kindness in these families.

Such “schools of Nazareth” give me great hope for the future.

We all instinctively believe in the link between strong family life and a healthy society. But we hear and see so many negative images today of marriage and family life, don’t we?

I was talking to a Gippsland policeman recently. He gave me fresh and ample evidence that weak and dislocated families abound and tend to produce a new generation with many “issues”.

The Catholic Church can never do enough to promote and protect marital and family life. We want to help the strugglers to keep their focus and integrity.

When families ask me to bless them I invoke often the blessing of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and

To God’s People in the Catholic Diocese of Sale Joseph. Surely every family must nourish some appropriate form of prayer life. How much the Lord Jesus wants to share his own family life with us.

I accepted recently an invitation to dine with a family. The parents led a beautiful short prayer time before the meal. The children, all from Catholic schools, were so happy to pray spontaneously for their own needs and the needs of the world.

It was a refreshing experience.

What does your family do to encourage prayer at home?

At times you feel today that society is turning against marital and family life as we now know it. For example, rather than protecting this Godly institution from harm, current proposed political legislation seems to be doing the opposite.

Proposals to give same-sex relationships legal marital recognition is something the Catholic Church will never endorse.

Such ideas are an attack on the in-

stitution of marriage that has served us so well for millennia – long before Christianity.

You were so enthusiastic to sign petitions in our parishes against this proposal when I alerted you to the matter last Christmas. We ought remain alert in the months ahead.

Our opposition has nothing to do with some type of institutional homophobia. Rather, it is our way of protecting the institution of marriage.

We believe that marriage is between a man and a woman who intend a permanent bond of love that is open to the possibility of the gift of children. In other words, it is both love sharing and life giving.

This stance is based on reason – what we call the natural moral law.

However, Christians see the institution of marriage in the light of faith. We see marriage in the light of God’s plan for man and woman.

The married couple is invited to share in the creative, permanent and

faithful love of the Trinity.

With God’s grace, they are to share in His creative power through children.

Children have human rights too.

They are rarely mentioned in the current debate. Tragically, they are not mentioned much either in the abortion issue that stills troubles the social conscience. But children have rights to have a mother and father.

Marriage and family life are already very fragile societal institutions. For the sake of peace and stability in the world, we must do all that we can to protect it.

In a sense, the World Youth Day pilgrimage to Madrid in these weeks is a living testimony to the enduring value of marriage and family life.

The youth have been given a great start in their life from their families.

They are now ready to find their place in the family of the Church.

They will be better prepared to take their eventual role in the family of society.

May the Lord Jesus, bless and protect our youth, parents and families always.

God bless always, + Bishop Christopher Prowse Catholic Bishop of Sale

Tao’s condition still serious

Nigerian priests on the way

SEMINARIAN Tao Pham remains in a serious condition in intensive care in Melbourne.

Since our report last issue, he was given a tracheotomy and his condition improved enough for him to be transferred from Sale hospital to St Vincent’s Hospital.

Tao suffered multiple organ failure after collapsing from what is believed to be the effects of septicaemia shortly before Mass on June 26 and spent several weeks on life support.

Earlier in the year, he also

VISAS have been granted for two Nigerian priests to move to Sale Diocese later this year.

The lengthy immigration process which has been taking place since Bishop Christopher Prowse selected the men in Nigeria last year was concluded only last week.

The two are Fr Joseph Sunday and Fr Francis Innocent, both from Otukpo Diocese.

In other news, the diocese will have another seminarian next year as a visa has been granted for Avanash George, a

DIOCESE OF SALE

spent five weeks in St Vincent’s after a thumb which had been accidentally jammed in a car boot became infected and poisoned his system. This caused his ordination as a deacon for Sale Diocese to be postponed until his full recovery.

Latest reports from St Vincent’s indicate he is in a stable condition but does have chronic inflammation especially in his joints.

He is now mentally alert and appreciates that we are continuing to pray for him.

Catholic Life

PO Box 183, Sale. Vic. 3853 Phone: (03) 5144 6132 Fax: (03) 5144 3855 catholiclife@sale.catholic.org.au www.sale.catholic.org.au

young man from Kerala, India.

It is expected he will arrive in November or December to prepare to begin studies at Corpus Christi next year.

Our latest two international arrivals have also been placed

in parishes. Fr Janeesh Jose, an India, is now assistant priest at Narre Warren, and Fr Anura Gamlath, a Sri Lankan, is assistant priest at Leongatha.

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Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 3

Last chance for BFF funds

ORGANISATIONS wishing to benefit from funding from the Bishop’s Family Foundation have until the end of this month to make application.

The foundation has about $100,000 to distribute to organisations who run programs for families in the area covered by the Diocese of Sale.

Applicants must have tax deductibility status and no money is therefore available for indi-

viduals.

Applications for funding should be accompanied by the relevant form which is available from the diocesan website www.sale.catholic.org.au.

Follow the link through Agencies to Bishop’s Family Foundation on the drop-down menu. The page which opens up also has a PDF document explaining the funding policy in detail.

Successful applicants will be advised towards the end of the year.

Organisations without Internet access can get a printed copy of the documents by phoning 5144 4311 or 5144 6132.

Since its inception 11 years ago the foundation has distributed almost $700,000 to programs aiding families.

Needy families need your help Please give generously

Celebrate with our migrants

By Regina T Abraham THE Church in Australia celebrates the theme “One Human Family” for Migrant and Refugee Sunday on September 11.

In the Diocese of Sale, Mass will be celebrated for this occasion at Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, Narre Warren at 2pm.

Bishop Christopher Prowse will celebrate Mass with the priests, deacons and the people of the diocese.

Migrant and Refugee Sunday is an initiative of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the diocese first celebrated the day last year.

The aim is to foster unity in diversity among the Catholic faithful; to appreciate and imbibe the richness of the various Catholic traditions from countries all over the world and to acknowledge that migrants bring a wholesome grandeur to the Church in Australia.

Migrants have changed the face of the Church in Australia.

We now have the rich culture and the traditions brought from many countries that are part of our worship.

There continues to be the historical trend of a high proportion of overseas-born among Australia’s population. Statistics also show us that the Diocese of Sale has had a growth spurt with attendance in many of our churches on the rise.

Come and be part of the rich and varied ceremony, music, rituals and different languages and also enjoy the taste of different migrant cuisine.

Bishop’s Family Foundation Kindly contact your parish priest or pastoral team for more details of the day.

Choir practice for the Migrant Mass will be held on Wednesday August 31 and Wednesday September 7 at 8pm.

To register your interest or to obtain the music, please contact the diocesan pastoral coordinator, Sophy Morley on 5126 1063 or e-mail smorley@sale. catholic.org.au Please coordinate with your parish team if you would like to bring finger food of your country that can be served cold to an afternoon tea after Holy Mass.

All are also invited to dress up in the traditional attire of their country.

Last year Bishop Prowse invited us to share our migrant stories with one another at the celebration at Pakenham.

If you do have any such stories/photos that you would like to share with all please email them to: regina.abraham7@ gmail.com or hand them over to your parish team. Some of

these stories will be collated for all to read on Migrant Sunday.

Donation envelopes available at all Sale Diocese churches or send your donation to: Bishop’s Family Foundation, PO Box 508, Sale, 3853

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The Catholic Development Fund Serving the Diocese of Sale Telephone: (03)5144 4311 Email: cdf@sale.catholic.org.au The Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale is not subject to the provisions of the Corporation Act 2001 nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Deposits with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale are guaranteed by CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for this purpose. We welcome your investment with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale rather than with a profit orientated commercial organisation as a conscious commitment by you to support the Charitable, Religious and Educational works of the Catholic Church. Neither the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale nor the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Sale are prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority; contributions to the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale do not obtain the benefit of the depositor protection provisions of the Banking Act 1959; the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale is designed for investors who wish to promote the charitable purposes of the Catholic Diocese of Sale.

Page 4 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Memories of Christmases

Controversial art

WELL-known Gippsland wildlife artist Dawn Stubbs from Munro is a finalist in the prestigious Blake Prize for religious art.

Her controversial work called “G9 2011” features orangutans with haloes in a parody of the Holy Family.

It is painted in oils and 16 carat gold and features quotes from Genesis.

The $20,000 Blake Prize is in its 60th year and always has a share of highly controversial works among the thousands of entries. The winner will be announced on September 15.

Talk to the boss

THIS has been passed on by Fr Peter Kooloos, Leongatha, who his secretary assures works when people call and ask to speak to the owner of the business with a view to selling something or signing them up for some service.

Caller: Am I speaking to the person who owns the business?

Secretary: No. Caller: Can I speak to the person who owns the business?

Secretary: Yes. This is a church and God owns our business. You are welcome to take the matter up with Him in the normal prayerful fashion.

Heading error

WE made a blue in the heading of an article on our World News page last month about

the ordination of Society of St Pius X priests.

We quoted a Vatican official who claimed that recent ordinations of SSPX priests were illicit because the fraternity has no canonical standing in the Church.

Our heading mistakenly read that the ordinations were “not valid” which is not the case.

We apologise for the error and thank the couple of people who pointed out the canonical difference between illicit and invalid.

Dig deep please

THE annual Father’s Day Appeal for the Diocese of Sale Priests’ Welfare Fund is coming up on September 4.

The PWF does a fantastic job providing accommodation for retired priests and assisting with medical and other expenses of priests who are ill.

With quite a few priests in retirement in our diocese, we need an annual injection of funds to help cover the costs.

Envelopes for the annual appeal donations will be on the pews in the next couple of weeks, so when you see them, please be generous.

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CHRISTMAS was always a wonderful time when I was young.

I still remember the lead up – picking out the chook for Christmas dinner, amassing the trimmings, hanging up the stockings, finding the box with the old Christmas decorations that lasted year after year, that wonderful feeling of staying up for Midnight Mass and coming home afterwards - the cuppa before we all went off to bed and trying to sleep when we knew Father Christmas was on the way, the family around the well-stocked table for Christmas lunch.

Then, over the years we began drifting away – Christmases got smaller and smaller as different members of the family got married or moved away. But those memories of Christmases past still linger and we try to recreate them in our own homes.

An article in one of the daily newspapers last year recounted the story of the writer’s frustration at not being able to cook a Christmas cake anywhere near as well as her mother.

Her mother was famous for her skill but her recipe was never written down and now Alzheimer’s had taken its toll.

Her mother no longer remembered proportions or ingredients or any of the tricks of her trade which lead to the author’s lament: ‘I regret my belief in endless opportunity and time.

I have so many more questions for my mother – many that would be answered now if I had been listening then’.

The belief in endless opportunities and time, a by-product of being young, can make us miss so much. Our lives can be filled with so much activity that we can miss so much of its wisdom and treasures.

We can forget to listen, to reflect, to cherish….just to take time!

Jesus’ telling us to “Do this in memory of me” is not only about gathering to celebrate the Eucharist but a call to take time, to remember, to cherish the memory of His presence and each others, to find comfort in his words, to be challenged again by his actions.

It is a call to be with each other, to sustain each other by our gathering together and by our shared beliefs.

That gathering should also include those who struggle with their faith. Those struggles and questions cannot be left at the door. Opening the door to them enriches us all.

What binds us together is that we listen, reflect, remember, discuss and pray.

Do this in memory of me.

Like recalling the memories of Christmases past, it is important to remember what sustained us then, what sustained our faith – not so that we will go back there and get stuck in the past but to look for the things that continue to sustain our faith now, that give our lives meaning now, the beliefs and practices that help us to see the world with the eyes of faith.

Reflections

by Jim Quillinan That’s what these practices did, but the world was different then. We need to ask ourselves which ones help us to live a grace-filled life now, which ones help us to see the action and presence of God in our world today – the practices we have kept that help us to see the world with the eyes of faith.

And we need to ask ourselves with what beliefs and practices have we replaced those we have left behind, those we no longer find relevant or challenging or enriching of our faith? Too often, I fear, we have not replaced them with anything.

The loss of what we might call our Christian memory is not about a collapse in the content of our belief, or even our knowledge of it.

It is about the way in which reality is perceived and understood. Any visitor to Europe can see that for centuries Europe has been shaped by a Christian narrative.

The visual signs of its presence are still there in the churches and the spires, the monasteries, the art, the place names. Christmas and Easter, Feast Days are celebrated and even, as in Ireland, time for praying the Angelus is set aside on National TV. But not for all.

These ‘reminders’ of our Christian heritage will cease to play any significant role unless they are accompanied by explanations, not simply of their meaning but what impact they have had in people’s lives and on their faith. They are part of our story which needs to be told.

The Jewish people, for ex-

ample, work hard and long to ensure that the memory of the Holocaust is never forgotten, even when the last of the survivors will have long since died.

In Australia we do not have such vivid reminders of that living Christian narrative. The Aboriginal people do. In Alice Springs Pope John Paul II noted how, for thousands of years they have lived in this land and fashioned an enduring culture and during all this time the Spirit of God has been with you.

“Your ‘Dreaming’ which touches your culture so strongly… is your own way of touching the mystery of God’s Spirit in you and in creation. Through your closeness to the land you touched the sacredness of humankind’s relationship with God … the silence of the bush taught you a quietness of soul and put you in touch with another world, the world of God’s Spirit.” - Alice Springs, November 29, 1986.

We need to create these reminders so that our many questions may at least be addressed with grace and wisdom.

What have we fashioned to keep us close to God, to give us joy in God’s presence and blessing, refresh our faith, free the imagination and the heart?

What reminders of God’s love and presence grace our family homes, our family celebrations?

Where in our family practices do we take seriously Jesus’ call to do this in memory of me – to recall, to celebrate, to explain, to hand on the things that sustain our relationship with God ?

Moe’s carrot crop

ST KIERAN’S sstudents (from left) Cedric, Syke and Andrew proudly show the results of their first crop.

MOE - The children at St Kier- for more planting in spring.

Children tend to the garden an’s have picked the first carrots regularly making sure there are no from their vegetable garden.

Carrots were planted last term and some were ready for picking recently. There were also peas, snow peas and lettuce planted.

The garden bed will be prepared

weeds and lots of watering. They are all enthusiastic about working in the garden and demonstrate great teamwork.

Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 5

Latin Masses return to St Mary’s Cathedral SALE - Weekly traditional Latin Masses have been reintroduced to St Mary’s Cathedral for the first time in more than 40 years.

The Masses are being celebrated by Dean of the Cathedral Fr Andrew Wise on Saturday mornings, using the 1962 Missal which was the last Roman Missal used in the Church for the Latin Mass.

This was the form of the Mass used before changes to the liturgy took place in the 1960’s after Vatican II. Fr Wise said that in 2007 Pope Benedict issued an Apostolic letter to the whole Church called Summorum Pontificum.

In it he stressed that the traditional Latin Mass still had a place in the life of the Church and urged people to experience and come to value the spiritual treasures of Mass in its traditional form.

He wrote, “In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behoves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”

Fr Wise said that Pope Benedict has also written of his desire for the ‘Ordinary’ form of the Mass we normally celebrate and the ‘Extraordinary’ form of the traditional Latin Mass

to come to ‘mutually enrich’ one another in the Church over time.

The traditional Latin Mass traces its substantial form back to Pope Gregory the Great about 1400 years ago and offered people a different but complimentary way of participating in the Mass.

“The Latin Mass highlights a more contemplative engagement in the sacred mysteries of what Jesus is doing for us and in us in the Holy Eucharist.”

He said readings for ‘Low Mass’ could now be in English and the 30 or so people who attended each Saturday morning were following the Mass with booklets and were becoming accustomed to the ritual and the Latin form of the prayers and responses.

Everyone is invited to this 10am Saturday traditional Latin Mass in the cathedral which is followed by confessions until 11.15am.

Fr Wise reintroduced a weekly traditional Mass to Cranbourne in November 2007 which he continued until moving to Sale in January this year.

A monthly Saturday night traditional Latin Mass has now also started in Iona with about 120 people attending the first one on August 6.

This Mass is being celebrated at 6pm on the Saturday evening before the first Sunday each month by Fr Glen Tattersall from the Latin Mass Community at St Aloysius East Caulfield.

A regular Wednesday evening

SOLEMN High Mass in Latin being celebrated at St Aloysius, East Caulfield, last Easter. traditional Latin Mass has also recently commenced at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne Fr Wise said a group from the St Aloysius community would be coming to Sale to help celebrate a Solemn High Mass in the traditional form at 11am on Sunday, September 18. This is a Mass that Catholics throughout

Teacher illustrates new books

TRARALGON - St Gabriel’s Primary School teacher and illustrator Jane Mitchell was recently honored at the launch of two children’s picture story books based on the life of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

The launch of Saint Mary MacKillop Loving Caring Teaching by Sr Francine Caesar rjs and Saint Mary MacKillop Friend and Helper by Sr Helen Archer RSJ took place at the Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre in East Melbourne.

In launching the books, Sr Dianne Moore RSJ spoke of the contribution the art work made to the stories and the overall appeal of the book. Both authors are from the Brisbane Diocese.

In June of 2010 Jane attended a keynote address by Sr Monica Cavanagh as part of the Pray 2010 conference in Brisbane.

Recognising a need for more resources for primary children on the life and work of Mary MacKillop, Jane approached Sr Monica to propose a collaboration on a picture story book.

Sr Monica knew that Sr Francine had written a book and was searching for an illustrator – and from that encounter a long distance relationship between Jane and Sr Francine and later, Sr Helen, developed.

Text of the books was posted and draft art work was scanned and emailed.

The resulting picture story books (published by Watson Ferguson & Company and currently available through the

the diocese are cordially invited to attend to celebrate the anniversary of the dedication of St Mary’s Cathedral.

The last Solemn High Mass like this in the Cathedral was probably celebrated back in 1967.

Fr Wise said the Solemn High Mass was a completely sung Mass with Gregorian chant and that a choir was coming from Melbourne to assist on the day.

Bishop Christopher Prowse would preside at the Mass and Fr Wise would be the main celebrant assisted by a deacon and sub-deacon and other ministers.

Readings would be in Latin and English and there would be booklets to help people follow the Mass.

For further inquiries contact Fr Wise through the cathedral parish office on 5144 4100.

Sept. deadline change

CONTRIBUTORS and advertisers are advised that the deadline for the next issue has been brought forward several days.

Copy for September should arrive at Catholic Life by Au-

gust 31.

The normal production schedule will be disrupted by a conference and so preference will be given to copy arriving before the new date.

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325 Princes Hwy, Traralgon East Phone 5176 4290 Mary MacKillop Centre in East Melbourne) will be valued in both classroom and home libraries for their charming appeal to children.

Sr Helen Archer’s offering, Saint Mary MacKillop Friend and Helper is especially directed to younger children. Simple text and bright illustrations acquaint readers with a warm and caring St Mary.

Sr Francine Caesar’s Saint Mary MacKillop Loving Caring Teaching is geared more to children from year 3-6. This more detailed text tells of St Mary’s life and work, including

accounts from her life which bring St Mary of the Cross to life for the reader.

Jane Mitchell, who is already widely known in the Sale Diocese and beyond for her music (Ordinary People) has been teaching Primary school art at St Gabriel’s and working as a consultant for several years.

She has painted large naive style pieces for Sacred Heart School Morwell, the St Mary MacKillop Hall at St Michael’s Traralgon and St Gabriel’s Traralgon.

This is her first effort in book illustration.

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Page 6 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Let us never take Catholic schools for granted

CATHOLIC schools, it seems, have always been with, or very close to, the heart of every parish community. Sometimes they are so familiar that we do not even see them.

It was most interesting to note that during Bishop Prowse’s recent round of regional forums, following the publication of his pastoral letter last year, only four times were Catholic schools mentioned as being an expression of the work of the Holy Spirit in the diocese.

Yet, very clearly, they are one of the most powerful manifestations of that Spirit. It seems that they are so familiar to us that they may be taken for granted.

It is well, then, to reflect briefly on just how the work of Catholic schools today is a powerful expression of the presence of the Holy Spirit among us, and one that should not be so taken for granted.

Our very history shows us how Catholics in days gone by have worked to ensure that they had Catholic schools in their communities. Led by committed priests and supported by the extraordinary generosity of so many religious men and women, the “ordinary Catholic parishioner” made enormous sacrifices of time, effort and money to build and support Catholic schools in parishes. That effort has continued, though in different shape. Then it was the political will and the thirst for justice on the part of so many over so many years that have led us

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to the funding arrangements we now have with governments.

We can never take for granted the sacrifices of so many of these extraordinary people who have gone before us.

In today’s Church, on numbers alone, the work of the Catholic school to promote and continue the mission of the church in education is enormous. Even in our small diocese our 34 primary schools and seven secondary colleges provide quality Catholic education to nearly 16,000 young people. Those 16,000 young people, in turn, have families and for many of these families, the Catholic school is their primary contact with Church, indeed it is often their only one. What a graced opportunity for evangelisation exists through our schools. It is truly a work of the Spirit.

Of course, numbers are one thing, but what is done with those numbers is what matters.

I am fully aware that there are those in our Catholic community who are concerned that big numbers in Catholic schools do not always translate into numbers in the pews on Sundays. But, it must be remembered that it is parents who are the first educators of their children. It is the parents who have first responsibility for the education of their children in faith. The school can only play a supporting role. It must be remembered, too, that parents and schools can only issue an invitation to young people to respond in faith. They may, or may not, respond to that invitation. We will fervently pray that they do.

But the fact remains that it is not the role of the Catholic school to ensure that students are Mass attenders. Of course, schools encourage such attendance and participation and rejoice when the invitation is accepted.

However, as Bishop Prowse has so often pointed out, we all have an evangelising role and Catholic schools carry that role very seriously. They provide quality Catholic education, and quality Catholic education is different from quality secular education. We have the underlying richness of being centred in Christ. Quality Catholic education is rooted in a philosophy of life, and of faith, that places God at the centre and develops a moral and ethical framework that is built on love, not selfcentredness. It is built on the belief that we are most fulfilled as human persons when we are most aligned with the person and teachings of Jesus, when we consciously choose to want

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with Talking Peter Catholic Ryan Education what is best for the other person, then to seek to do something about that (which I find is a wonderful definition of love).

Catholic schools constantly present their curriculum and their pastoral care programs within that framework and once again, can be seen to be firmly at the core of the Spirit’s work in our diocese.

There is clear evidence that young people, having been through the Catholic education system, align themselves much more strongly with issues such as social justice than do their counter-parts from secular schools. That message which begins, of course, from home, is clearly being strengthened by Catholic schools. Good things are happening. The Spirit is certainly at work through Catholic schools.

We must remember too, that Catholic schools reflect the person of Jesus in being open to all. They are open to all who are willing to engage in the Christ-centred work of the Church, even if those words are unfamiliar; they are open to all, even those furthest from the faith, as the Church teaches us. They are open, too, to those

who have disabilities, whether physical or intellectual; they are open to those who struggle socially; they are open to those who struggle with behaviour issues; they are open to those who struggle financially.

That very openness does not come without cost and, indeed, it results in Catholic schools having great struggles of their own to continue to welcome all. But schools do follow the teaching of Jesus and willingly engage in that struggle, again manifesting the work of the Spirit among us. These struggles are rarely seen by those not directly involved with schools, but they are very real struggles indeed.

We must always keep in mind, too, that Catholic schools are the work of the parish. They do not stand apart. It is never a case of thinking about “school AND parish”, as though they are separate things. The school is as much a part of the work of the parish as the bereavement support team or the liturgy committee or the parish finance council. The school is often the parish’s most effective evangelising tool, reaching many more people, in many more walks of

life, than other parish activities are able to do. The school, once again, is a manifestation of the work of the Spirit through the parish.

There have been some sad but fortunately rare examples recently of poor language being used when people have spoken of the parish “giving” land to the school to build a hall, for example. That represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between parish and school. The school is a work of the parish, not some separate, stand alone organisation. The school will touch people with the message of Jesus whom other parish agencies will never get near.

I am sure that the Catholic school is valued by our whole Catholic community. It has been with us for many generations of Australians. Perhaps it is taken for granted by some. It should never be.

We are thankful to God for the gift of Catholic education that has been given us here in Australia. It is widely and enthusiastically supported by our priests and our people. Sometimes, though, it is so familiar that we forget that it is a critically important way in which the Spirit is working among us in our diocese of Sale. Hopefully, next time people are asked to name examples of the work of the Spirit in the Diocese, many more than four people will think of the Catholic school!

SFX assists flood recovery BEACONSFIELD - During the first week of the term holidays the Year 12 Hearts & Hands Remar caravel from St Francis Xavier College travelled to Charlton to do flood relief work.

In the past 12 months Charlton has gone from a 10 year drought to a locust plague, two floods and now a mouse plague.

On January 14 of this year Charlton was hit with its worst flood ever, however to look at the town today you could be easily fooled into thinking the town has recovered.

Most of the houses look pretty normal, but inside they are just shells. Many have no heating or cooking facilities. A number of insurance companies are refusing to payout and this has left many residents struggling to rebuild their homes let alone have the basic facilities of cooking and heating.

The little school hall where Remar members stayed for the week, had a stove, a heater and a shower; this made us better off than many of the town residents.

The Caravel spent two days cooking for those residents who had no cooking facilities and managed to organise about three weeks of food. On the other days rowers went around the town distributing the food and the blankets, but more importantly listening to the locals and their stories.

This was probably more im-

REMAR members from St Francis Xavier College cooking up a storm in the kitchen at Charlton as part of the ongoing flood relief efforts. portant than giving out the food. rant set at the fictitious Teddy In the grudge match of the Whitten Junior Senior High century we took on the mighty where rowers from all caravels Charlton netball team. At three aided and abetted by former quarter time scores were level, STAR players had audiences but the under 13 girls were able laughing riotously all through to overrun us after questionable the night at the antics of its stunew tactics employed by the dents and its somewhat quesSFX coaching panel. tionable past luminaries.

All in all we had a great week An exquisite 2 course meal where we were able to make a prepared by the Year 10 and contribution to a huge recovery 11 hospitality classes from St program as well as becoming a Francis Xavier gave the nights a closer knit Remar community. touch of class making sure that The first two weeks of the all audience members left with term 2 saw four nights of “Re- a broad smile on their faces mar Restorante” theatre restau-

Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 7

Answers to shares turmoil A Catenian men’s WE’VE seen a huge amount of volatility in the share market of late, and some unique events, too.

It’s enough to make experienced brokers uncertain, let alone the average mum or dad who only sees the spectacular headlines and doesn’t necessarily get all the relevant information.

We’ve seen the USA have its credit rating downgraded, the USA Government unable to agree on the debt ceiling and tax changes and now we have China telling the US how to look after itself.

Our share market falls five percent one day, then six the next before recovering to finish up one percent. No broker I know can recall a larger one day swing ever! I can’t guarantee tomorrow, but I’m confident about the mid-term and longer.

I have written other articles on volatility and also about what you don’t always read in the dailies so this isn’t the place to recount them in detail.

Suffice to say that volatility is here to stay in greater or lesser extent and that the dailies have erred on the side of exaggeration and spectacular headlines.

The world economy is still growing. The risk of a double dip recession is still the least likely outcome. The share market is not the economy.

So what do we do? I thought I’d sum up the questions being raised by my clients and our responses.

The major commentary and question we get is that the market is falling, so should we sell?

Our response is obviously conditional, but if a shareholder has bought for the long term and there is nothing wrong with the business in which they have invested, then there may be no reason to sell.

Traders on the other hand should sell as soon as the market moves against them.

group in Casey

DOLLAR$ & SENSE with David Wells

If you sell out a share you’d like to later buy back, the odds are that you’ll pay more to recover the position.

The next is “The world economy is in a recession, so we should sell.” Wrong!

The world economy is still growing, albeit not as fast as we’d like. There is always a chance that the economy could slow, but China still forecasts at least two decades of growth higher than 7 percent so we will always have a market while that exists.

“I’m selling something, so I’ll take the profits” is another chestnut. Investors who decide always to take a profit ultimately end up selling their best shares. If you want to sell to take money off the table, sell the investments that aren’t working.

This is even more important in times like this. Keep the quality and let the mistakes go.

“Should I be doing anything?”

Probably not is the most common answer. The more we make decisions to change things, the more we are increasing the possibility of making mistakes.

In a highly volatile market with wide swings in both directions and no particular direction acting with haste can be very expensive. The other day our market fell 220 points and then recovered 269 points the same day and 120 points the next.

Those that panicked out of the market at the low point will have missed out on four percent of their capital for ever!

In a market that has lost 25 percent of its value in a few

Explaining the share market Experienced stock broker and financial advisor David Wells will speak at three evenings on the share market and investing.

Attend one of these FREE sessions to hear about the changing nature of investing, superannuation, retirement and the outlook for Australia in the world environment.

FOSTER Monday, August 22 Foster Golf Club , 7 Reserve St, Foster

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SALE

Wednesday, August 24 ACES, 55 Raymond St., Sale All from 7pm. Light supper provided.

RSVP farrerhouse@rbsmorgans.com or phone 1300 213 617 Bookings essential Meet the writer of one of most read sections of Catholic Life newspaper.

months the best thing to be doing with those investments still held is to sell the poorer performers and increase holdings in the better companies.

In a low market the values of good shares and the values of poor shares comes closer together.

When the market turns, as it always has, then the gap just gets bigger again. Now is a cheap time to upgrade a portfolio.

“Should I be buying?” The short answer is yes, but we wouldn’t recommend buying everything at once.

Our market has bounced and economies are still growing but with the increased emphasis on short term investing there will certainly be good opportunities in the future. Yet there is still excellent value for investors in our market at present.

I am presenting three public sessions next week at Foster, Yarram and Sale on August 22, 23 and 24 respectively, where I’ll be expanding on these and other issues.

If any readers are interested there are still seats available.

See the advertisement in these pages for more details but it’s a chance for me to meet more of my readers.

• This report is intended to provide general advice. In preparing this advice, David Wells and RBS Morgans did not take into account the investment objective, the financial situation and particular needs of any particular person.

Before making an investment decision on the basis of this advice, you need to consider, with or without the assistance of an adviser, whether the advice is appropriate in light of your particular investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances.

MEMBERS of the newly formed Catenian Men’s Group at Narre Warren.

NARRE WARREN - Following on from successful formation meetings that started in August 2010, a Catenian Men’s Group which meets on the second Wednesday of each month in the Narre Warren Hotel was inaugurated earlier this year.

There are now 12 enrolled members with several potential candidates attending the monthly meetings which start at 7.15pm and any Catholic men over the age of 21 are welcome to attend the meeting which is followed by a dinner at 8pm.

The group, although based initially on parishioners from Our Lady Help of Christians, in accordance with Catenian practice is not exclusively a parish organisations, and hence has chosen to be known as the Casey Catenian Group.

It is seeking members in local parishes both in the Sale Diocese and the Melbourne Archdiocese. When membership grows to 25, steps will be taken

to be recognised as a Catenian Circle and take its place with the five Circles in Victoria and more than 25 in other States.

Simply put, the Catenian Association is an international brotherhood of Catholic men who meet socially and find true friendship with their Catholic faith providing the strong common bond.

They try to have a full social program designed to appeal to all tastes and involve wives and families.

Formed in 1908 in Manchester England, the association has more than 10,000 members in over 300 Circles in England, Ireland, Malta, Australia, Southern Africa, Hong Kong and India.

Further details of the Casey Catenian Group can be obtained from the current chairman Con Lilley by telephone on 8794 9513 or by e-mail on clilley@melbpc.org.au

Reflect On Your Life A CDF Pre-Paid Funeral plan allows you to arrange and pay for your funeral in advance at today’s prices with the funeral director of your choice. Neither you nor those you leave behind will have to worry about it again.

CDF Pre-Paid Funerals are the only Fund established specifically for South Eastern Victoria.

Monies paid are invested locally through the government approved Trust Fund.

Organise and pay for your CDF Pre-Paid Funeral through any participating funeral director within Gippsland, Mornington Peninsula and outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

For more information contact:

CDF Pre-Paid Funerals PO Box 508 Sale 3853 Phone 5144 4311 Email: cdf@sale.catholic.org.au

Page 8 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Full text of bishop’s statement Letter to parishioners on Fr Speekman ruling July 28, 2011

28th July 2011 THE DISPUTE BETWEEN BISHOP J. COFFEY AND FR J. SPEEKMAN In the Catholic Diocese of Sale and beyond many would be aware of the long standing dispute between Bishop Jeremiah Coffey, the retired Bishop of Sale, and Fr John Speekman, priest of the Diocese of Sale.

It pertains to Fr Speekman and his appointment as Parish Priest of Morwell by Bishop Coffey (appointed July 2000).

In July 2003 Bishop Coffey issued a Decree removing Fr Speekman as Parish Priest of Morwell.

Ultimately, the issue was referred to Rome for adjudication. The Congregation for the Clergy on two occasions supported Fr Speekman in the matter (2004, 2006). Bishop Coffey then appealed to the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church, in 2007.

In recent days we have finally received a definitive judgement on the matter from the Signatura. As the Signatura is the Supreme Apostolic Tribunal, there can be no appeal from its judgements.

The Signatura has judged that the Congregation for the Clergy was correct in the procedure in which it carried out its deci-

sion. However, according to the judgement of the Signatura, the argumentation the Congregation for the Clergy employed was wrong because it did not consider all the reasons presented to it.

Therefore the removal by Bishop Coffey of Fr Speekman as Parish Priest of Morwell has been upheld by the Signatura.

A new Parish Priest for the Parish of Morwell will need to be appointed. Let us pray for the parish afresh in these times.

My prayer and hope is that this definitive judgement by the Signatura will help us move to a closure and healing of this vexed issue. Please join me in prayer that this becomes a reality in the years ahead. Our effective proclamation of the Gospel of Reconciliation in Gippsland insists on this.

Soon I will discuss with Fr. Speekman suitable possibilities for a fresh appointment in the Diocese of Sale.

I am grateful for the patience and priestly zeal that both Bishop Coffey and Fr Speekman have demonstrated in these many years of waiting. Let us pray for them.

TO THE PARISH OF MORWELL SACRED HEART & ST VINCENTS

Fr John Speekman

Yours sincerely in Christ, + Bishop Christopher Prowse Catholic Bishop of Sale

Bishop Jeremiah Coffey

Dear Parishioners in the Parish of Morwell, Greetings in the Lord Jesus to you all.

In recent days I have received from Rome the definitive judgement from the Apostolic Signatura regarding the dispute between Bishop Jeremiah Coffey and Fr John Speekman.

Your Parish knows only too well about this dispute as it concerns Fr Speekman’s time with you between 2000 and 2003.

The Signatura is the highest judicial tribunal in the Catholic Church. There is no appeal from its judgements.

The Signatura has made a judgement in favour of Bishop Coffey in his removal of Fr. Speekman as your Parish Priest in 2003.

This means that Fr Speekman is no longer the Parish Priest of the Parish of Morwell. I will begin soon a process to find a new Parish Priest for your parish.

Attached is a public statement on the whole matter. I would appreciate if it could be read to you at all of the Masses this weekend too.

Ideally, I would have preferred to come to your parish personally this weekend to speak to you all. Regrettably, my previous commitments prevent this. But later I will come and visit you.

I am grateful that Fr Brown is able to represent me at this time.

May I thank you so much for your patience and endurance. It has been such a long time. Your deep Catholic faith has given you much hope and trust. I thank the Lord Jesus for your deep faith.

I know that this judgement will have a mixed response from many. In my prayer, however, I have prayed that it will be the beginning of a closure on the matter. We do need to work together now to ensure that the Parish begins a new chapter of its great Catholic history.

Yours sincerely in Christ, + Bishop Christopher Prowse DD Catholic Bishop of Sale

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Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 9

Young Men of God formation

By Tim Davis YOUNG Men of God (YMG) is an Australian movement of 1635 year old chippies, students, teachers, doctors, arborists, accountants, religious, single and married men.

Blokes from all walks of life seeking, ‘the abundance of life that only Jesus can provide’ (John 10:10) On the weekend of July 8-10 a group of these men gathered at Smiths Beach on Phillip Island for the annual Victorian YMG Formation weekend.

Present were young men from parishes across the Victorian dioceses.

The weekend proved to be a powerful experience of brotherhood, prayer, inspiring talks, opportunities to receive the sacraments, plenty of food and great company.

Three priests generously took the time to share in the weekend, Fr Anthony Phillips MGL, Fr Anthony McSweeny (Blessed Sacrament Father) and Fr Nicholas Pearce (Melbourne Archdiocese) leading the group in the sacraments and offering solid input and great company.

One of the organisers of the weekend, Luke O’Connor, father of three from the Sale Diocese said that he was “really happy with the feedback from the participants at this year’s formation weekend.”

Mr O’Connor said that “YMG

is a movement that aims to be a resource for empowering young men to strengthen their faith, become leaders in their respective families, parishes and communities and to simply connect them with others who are on the same journey “It provides a peer support structure for everyday Catholic men that can fit around their busy lives and it is hoped that the involvement of young men in initiatives such as the formation weekend and fortnightly prayer groups will not only encourage and inspire them on their faith journey through support from their peers but that the experience will also challenge them to ‘rise up’ and live lives that reflect the bold and courageous message of Christ.”

In October this year the 2011 YMG National Gathering will be taking place at Collaroy, on Sydney’s northern beaches.

If you are a young man of

faith or know anyone who may be interested in getting along to this gathering with an estimated 150 other young men from all over Australia further details can be found at the following link: www.ymgmovement.org.

RIGHT: Participants at the formation weekend on Phillip Island chatting over a meal.

Bishop keynote speaker on migrants BISHOP of Sale, Christopher Prowse will be one of two keynote speakers at the inaugural Bishop Joe Grech Memorial Colloquium of Ethics and Migration.

He will share the stage with the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen.

The event will be held at the Central Hall at Australian Catholic University, 24 Brunswick

St., Fitzroy, on September 8 at 7pm.

Title of this year’s event is One Human Family Across Borders and will be facilitated

by SBS television presenter Anton Enus.

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office has organised the annual event in association with ACU in memory of former Bishop of Sand-

hurst who was the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference spokesman on migrant matters.

He died suddenly at the end of last year.

Those attending the colloquium should advise the migrant and refugee office by September 2 on adminassistant@acmro.catholic.org.au.

Page 10 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Diocese of Sale

Catholic Development Fund Financial Report 2011 CDF Loans

$M

Vision

35

OUR vision is to be the financial institution of choice for the Catholic community of the Diocese of Sale, providing high quality, professional and personalised financial services whilst fostering a partnership committed to supporting the growth of a vibrant and evangelising Church.

30 25 20 15

Mission

10 5 Ͳ 2007

2008

2009

2010

CDF Deposits

2011

THROUGH the provision of high quality financial services our aim is to attract and maximise the financial resources of our Catholic community not only to the benefit of clients but also in order to advance the Mission of the Church by providing the means through which the pastoral, charitable and educational needs of the Diocese of Sale can be promoted and developed.

$M

The following objectives are derived from this Mission: • Attract and manage funds invested in the Catholic Development Fund prudently and profitably for the benefit and advancement of the mission of the Church.

• Provide competitive returns to depositors.

• Offer low cost finance to our parishes, schools and other Catholic Church entities, for capital works.

• Provide a high quality, professional and personal service to clients using modern financial systems.

• Provide and maintain a reliable income stream for the Diocese to enable the on-going provision of pastoral and charitable works of the Diocese of Sale.

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Ͳ

Extracts from the financial statements for the year ended 31st March 2011

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011 Income

Source of Deposits

$M

25 20

10 5 0

2010

$

$

Interest on Loans

2,056,974

1,665,061

Income from Investments

1,784,664

1,441,914

Other Income

1,099

1,242

Total Income

3,842,737

3,108,217

1,769,947

1,390,745

Less Expenditure Interest paid to Depositors Operating Expenses

15

2011

395,403

364,649

2,165,350

1,755,394

Net Operating Surplus

1,677,387

1,352,823

Retained Funds at the Beginning of the Year

4,500,111

3,897,288

Total Expenses

Less Distribution to the Diocese of Sale

(1,000,000)

Retained Funds at the end of the year

5,177,498

4,500,111

(750,000)

Cash and Investments

42,423,579

41,779,305

Loans

32,522,269

27,570,223

Assets

Other Assets

26,282

1,499

Total Assets

74,972,130

69,351,027

69,016,528

64,206,107

Liabilities Depositors' Funds Other Liabilities

Our Board of Management THE following were members of the Diocese of Sale CDF Board of Management during the year.

Bishop C. Prowse, Bishop of Sale Rev Fr M. Hewitt, Parish Priest, Cowes Mr K.J. Allman LLB (Melb) (Diocesan Solicitor), Sale Ms T. Hutton, Financial Services, Berwick Mrs R. Bennett, Agricultural Services Yinnar Mr R. Tarraran, Business Manager, Traralgon Mr G. Marvin, Lending Consultant, Korumburra Mr J. Pannozzo-Tilé, Financial Services, Traralgon Mrs J. McLaughlin, Financial Services, Traralgon

778,104

644,809

Total Liabilities

69,794,632

64,850,916

Retained Funds

5,177,498

4,500,111

* Complete audited financial statements are available on request Independent Audit Report to the Bishop of Sale We have audited the summarised financial report of the Catholic Development Fund for the year ended 31st March 2011 as above in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards.

In our opinion, the information reported in the summarised financial report is consistent with the annual statutory financial report from which it is derived and upon which we expressed an unqualified audit opinion in our report to the Bishop of Sale dated 10/8/2011. For a better understanding of the scope of our audit, this report should be read in conjunction with our audit report on the annual financial report.

BENTLEYS MRI CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS Dated in Melbourne on this 10th day of August 2011

MARTIN FENSOME PARTNER

Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 11

Diocese of Sale

Catholic Development Fund Financial Report 2011

A Message from the Bishop MY dear Friends in Christ, The last twelve months have seen considerable missionary activity in the Diocese of Sale.

We have had many of the Education Revolution School Expansions blessed and opened. We have had the building of new Secondary and Primary Schools. We have welcomed two new priests from overseas to assist us and two more priests are to come in the months ahead.

All of these are practical matters but they are signs of great missionary activity.

On the deeper level, I have engaged the Diocese to work out with me practical ways in which a pastoral project or plan for the Diocese over the next few years can be articulated. I have written recently my new Pastoral Letter entitled “Everything for the Gospel”. I hope in subsequent months with regional gatherings to be able to articulate some particular pastoral priorities whereby in the years ahead we can bring the Diocese of

Sale onto a firmer missionary foundation.

For all this to happen, the financial arm of the Diocese needs to be secure and ready to make these projects a practical reality.

I do recognise the wonderful service of the Catholic Development Fund in the Diocese of Sale. The members of the CDF Board of Management, the Diocesan Staff, particularly Mr. Jeff Davis and the staff in our Sale Office always give exceptional service to helping us move on in a very efficient way.

My prayer is that this continues in the years ahead with both depth and a great deal of expansion. For this to become a reality, I pray that God’s Blessing will fall afresh upon the Catholic Development Fund so that we can continue the work of Christ to bring the Good News to all those in our Diocese and beyond.

With every encouragement, Yours sincerely in Christ, + Bishop Christopher Prowse Catholic Diocese of Sale

Management report for the year ended March 31, 2011.

THE year ended 31st March 2011 saw the Diocese of Sale Catholic Development Fund achieve its mission of delivering competitive and high quality financial services to parishes, schools and parishioners.

In achieving this it also delivered the means by which the diocese can continue its pastoral, charitable and educational programs.

The main objective of the CDF is to support parishes and schools with low cost loans. This has been a year where loans have grown by 18 percent to a record $32.5 million. Of particular interest is the loan balance at the end of June 2011 which has increased by a further 11.5 percent to $36.3 million.

The main reason for this sudden growth is the expansion of Melbourne into our diocese requiring land to be purchased for schools and new parishes. While a blessing for the CDF, the high cost of land is placing financial pressure on parishes in that area.

It is this pressure that has necessitated the need for careful and progressive planning across the diocese.

The development structure, implemented by Bishop Coffey, has now become a driving force for growth under the leadership of Bishop Prowse.

It is wonderful to see what can be achieved when like-minded people come together for the benefit of the Catholic Diocese of Sale. The close working relationship between the priests of the diocese, the Catholic Education Office, the Business Office and the numerous people involved in the planning process has been a huge benefit.

This can only improve further when all the “players” are gathered together at Sion House sometime in the first half of 2012.

The success of the CDF can be attributed to many people from every part of the diocese. The dedication of Patricia Smart and her team, who carry out the daily operations, are the heart and soul of our Fund and are the faces and voices that are known to our clients across the diocese. Pat, Zintra and Karen go to extraordinary lengths to provide a service second to

FRAMEWORK in place for the extension to the new Sion House headquarters of the diocese which is expected to be occupied in the first half of 2012.

none in this field. I thank them for this work.

The Board of Management of the CDF plays an important role throughout the year, using their experience and expertise to help guide the Fund. Since the end of the financial year we have welcomed to the board, Fr Bernard Buckley who has replaced Fr Malcolm Hewitt. I also thank all the members for their work.

Thank you also to our many clients across the diocese for supporting the Fund. This support allows the work of the diocese to continue. The increased loan balance requires even more support and I urge all parishioners to consider a term deposit. Our interest rates are very competitive and you will have the added satisfaction of knowing that you are helping the education of our children.

Jeff Davis Business Manager

BRICKLAYERS working on the new double storey wing being built at the rear of Sion House, Warragul, in readiness for all staff being located on the one site.

The Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale is not subject to the provisions of the Corporation Act 2001 nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Deposits with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale are guaranteed by CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for this purpose. We welcome your investment with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale rather than with a profit orientated commercial organisation as a conscious commitment by you to support the Charitable, Religious and Educational works of the Catholic Church. Neither the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale nor the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Sale are prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority; contributions to the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale do not obtain the benefit of the depositor protection provisions of the Banking Act 1959; the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale is designed for investors who wish to promote the charitable purposes of the Catholic Diocese of Sale.

Page 12 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Vocations awareness 2011 - Hear the call It is time to discern your Christian vocation NORMALLY when we talk of religious vocations we are talking about becoming a priest, brother and sister.

However, at this time of year, all Catholics are asked to discern their vocation in the life of the Church.

While we certainly need many more young people to consider religious vocations, it is just important for everyone young and old to take stock of their lives.

Married couples have a huge role to play in the Church and it is vitally important that they see their life choice as a vocation.

Bringing up children in a home filled with love and taking them to Mass is a vocation which should not be treated lightly.

Couples can also get involved in the Church, living a vocation of service by becoming a lector, commentator, special minister of the Eucharist, helping out with baptism and marriage

preparation programs, children’s liturgies, bereavement groups, cuppas after Mass, or just being involved in parish groups.

Of course, many of these roles are also open to those who are singles, whether by choice or through the death of a spouse.

Single people have much to offer the choice and often have more time to devote to the life of the Church than do married couples who also have to juggle commitments which involve their children’s activities.

It is never too late to hear the call of God in your life.

Take the time to be prayerful and be open to the gentle call.

There will be no booming voice of God, blare of trumpets or crackle of skyrockets.

Instead there will come to be a realisation that God is asking you to be involved in his Church, to help spread the Good News and to live as Jesus taught us.

Single men may find a deeper calling to serve as a priest or brother. Don’t ignore the thought without at least speaking to our diocesan vocations director Deacon Tony Aspinall 0414 468 692 or email him at vocations@sale.catholic.org. au.

For married men there is also a vocation of permanent deacon which involves theological study and ordination as a deacon.

A deacon generally assists in parishes, performs chaplaincy to schools and hospitals, and can conduct baptisms, weddings and funerals.

Normally the diaconate is a step towards priesthood but these permanent deacons cannot progress because they are married. It is a role generally suited to older men.

Young single men and women can also join a religious institute and become a priest, brother or sister within the rules

Fanning the flames of hope

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67 Macarthur St., Sale 3850

(03) 5143 1232

By Taaremon Matauea THREE years ago, when I was a seminarian in Chicago, the Columban Missionary Society asked me to go to Taiwan for two years.

The purpose of this overseas assignment was for me to live and work side by side with experienced Columban missionaries, learn one of the local languages (Chinese Mandarin), get to know the Taiwanese people, and learn about their life and faith.

I was privileged to be able to visit the place where the founder of the Columbans, Bishop Galvin, and several of his missionary companions lived when they first arrived in China more than 90 years ago.

However, I also learned that when the communists came to power thirty years later (1951) all Christian missionaries including Columban priests - were expelled and the local Christians were persecuted.

During my visit I spent time with Columban, Fr Dan Troy and I began to realize how difficult it is to live in another country and befriend, almost in secret, its people.

Despite being a priest, he has no church, no Sunday congregation, no catechism classes, and no Bible study groups.

He believes, however, that all the people he encounters are children of God and that the only way that they might ever know the Bible will be through the Christian life he shows them.

The gentle yet firm conviction of his faith as he lives his daily life among the Chinese people made me ask myself: How faithful am I in proclaiming the Good News of Christ’s love? How effective am I as a messenger of God not just on Sundays, but in my everyday humdrum life? • Taaremon Matauea is a Seminarian from Fiji

of that organisation.

There is ample information on the various institutes available through the links on the Website www.catholicozvocations.org.au.

And just when you thought the vocations options are starting to run out there are also Associations of Christ’s Faithful, Societies of Apostolic Life, canonical hermits or consecrated virgins.

Associations of Christ’s Faithful may be made of up either clergy, laity or both, and members strive by a common effort to promote the living of

a fully Christian life. They foster public worship, and exercise other apostolic works, especially in the area of evangelisation A Society of Apostolic Life is a group of men or women within the Catholic Church who have come together for a specific purpose. These Apostolic Societies may look like Religious Institutes but their members do not take vows as ‘religious’. Members may take vows for only one year at a time and the vows follow the particular apostolic purpose of the society.

Have you ever considered God is calling you to be a priest or permanent deacon for the Diocese of Sale?

Talk about your feelings to our religious vocations director Deacon Tony Aspinall 0414 468 692 vocations@sale.catholic.org.au Âľ+( +$6 6(17 0( 72 %5,1* *22' 1(:6 72 7+( 3225 Âś /N

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Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 13

Iona presbytery on last legs

Ignorance of Bible is ignorance of Christ - Bishop

By Regina T Abraham

IONA and Koo Wee Rup parish priest Fr John Allen has decided it is time to move to Koo Wee Rup where the presbytery is more habitable.

IONA - Fr John Allen has hardly settled in since moving to Iona from Narre Warren earlier this year but has decided the time is right to move out of the old weatherboard presbytery.

Earlier this year floodwater lapped just underneath the floorboards of the presbytery and iconic church.

And during winter the presbytery is almost impossible to keep warm when the priest is in and out all day and it is not cost effective to leave heaters on.

The old home has been upgraded several times over the years but it is still not really up to standard.

Next month Fr Allen will move 20 minutes away to his second parish of Koo Wee Rup where the presbytery is a more modern brick veneer building opposite the school.

The Koo Wee Rup presbytery is currently occupied by Josephite Sisters Sr Christina Scannell and Sr Rose Wood who will be moving to a home

in Hardy St. The old Iona presbytery was built about 100 years ago after the Great Swamp was drained to create fertile farmland.

The school next door closed down about 10 years ago and while it has been used for camps and conferences from time to time, it no longer has an occupancy certificate.

Iona still attracts about 130 to Mass on a Sunday while there are about 90 at Koo Wee Rup and 60 at Nar Nar Goon.

Monthly Masses are also celebrated at Maryknoll and Lang Lang.

Fr Allen said the area’s decline appeared to have reversed and was now growing with numbers up at the three parish schools at Bunyip, Nar Nar Goon and Koo Wee Rup. The population boom which had hit the western end of the diocese was starting to impact on the joint parishes.

He said Garfield and Bunyip townships were starting to grow

and there were plans to build 300 new houses in the Koo Wee Rup area.

Developers were building a large supermarket and six new specialty shops in the town.

Fr Allen said living in Iona had its advantages because it was central to all the Mass centres and schools but because they presbytery and church were not part of a town, it meant the parish priest was constantly on the move.

Having a new base in a growing town would make night meetings easier to facilitate, even if it meant travel times would be longer to some Mass centres.

He said that once the move took place he would have to juggle Mass times to fit in the extra travel.

Fr Allen said serving the dual parishes was interesting because those on the swamp were mainly of Irish and Dutch ancestry while Koo Wee Rup had a large Sicilian community.

Help sought on nurse windows A DOCTORAL student at University of Queensland is seeking assistance to locate stained glass windows that depict nurses in Australian public buildings, such as churches .

Susan Kellett as requesting the assistance of parishioners and clergy in locating, as part of her research which examines

the commemoration and memorialisation of nurses.

If you are aware of any window that contains an image of a nurse – such as Florence Nightingale, service nurses from the wars or other nurses, or memorialises a nurse, she would love to hear from you.

Please send the name and lo-

WITH CARE AND DIGNITY WE RESPECTFULLY SERVE THE DISTRICTS OF:

LEONGATHA/KORUMBURRA (03) 5662 2717 Paul and Margaret Beck

FOSTER

(03) 5662 2717

Paul and Margaret Beck

WONTHAGGI/INVERLOCH

(03) 5672 1074

Ray and Maree Anderson

PHILLIP ISLAND

(03) 5952 5171

Ray and Maree Anderson MEMBER OF AUSTRALIAN FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION

cation of the church or building the window is located in to susan.kellett@uqconnect.edu. au, phone (07) 3346 5269 or post to Susan Kellett, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cavell Building, The University of Queensland - Herston Campus, Herston, Queensland, 4029.

Does your business reach customers from across the wider Gippsland area?

Let Catholic Life be your means of reaching out to 45,000 potential customers every month.

Phone 5144 6132 or email catholiclife@ sale.catholic.org.au

THE teaching day held by Bishop Christopher Prowse on July 16 was well attended by leaders, prayer group members, and the youth.

Bishop Prowse’s teaching at Marist Sion College was on the importance of the Sacred Scriptures.

He opened up to us the Verbum Domini, the Post Synodnal Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Benedict XIV, which was written in response to the Synod Fathers request that the whole People of God be made known the rich fruits that emerged from the synod sessions.

Pope Benedict said “I wrote Verbum Domini because I would like the work of the synod to have a real effect on the life of the Church: on our personal relationship with the Sacred Scriptures, on their interpretation in the liturgy and catechesis, and in scientific research so that the Bible may not be simply a word from the past, but a living and timely Word.”

The bishop started by talking about the handed down tradition of the Church. We then looked at the three sections within this book exploring that the “Word of God” was Jesus (Gospel of John 1:1-4).

“The Word” was also spoken through the Prophets (He has spoken through the prophets…) and handed down through the preaching of the Apostles and through the Church’s living tradition.

We looked at God who speaks to us through His Word and our response to His Word. We went through the impact the Word of God had in the lives of the Saints and on our topic for the day, the words of St Jerome, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ”.

We looked at the Word of God in the life of the Church and one of the attendees who was also a lector at Mass, said

ished Establ ars 33 ye PAVING GIPPSLAND & LATROBE VALLEY

that before she read the Word at Mass, she would “marinate” in the Word, so as to proclaim it meaningfully.

The same was echoed by the Fr Herman Hengel who was present at the teaching, that he too would marinate in the Word, during the week before his homily on Sunday. Finally, we looked at the Word of God and the Church’s mission, both the Church leaders and the laity, to proclaim the Word to all people.

The day went through very quickly with bishop’s teaching as always humorous and informative. The music for the Mass and the praise and worship by the Narre Warren Church group was lively. and helpers sustained us with a variety of food.

Thanks and blessings to all those who cooked cleaned and made all the arrangements for that day and Marist Sion College who made their hall available.

Feedback received from some of the attendees indicated the bishop’s teaching and discussion was relevant to the leadership of pastoral and liturgy teams of any parish within the diocese.

Some youth members said they would read the Verbum Domini with more understanding and interest now.

Many others were of the opinion that we (specifically those in leadership roles) need more teachings sessions from the bishop, to also enable us to gain an understanding of his strategy and direction for the diocese.

Other leaders thought the day was a great blessing and it was wonderful to see so many from all the different Parishes come together.

The Verbum Domini is available to download on-line from the Vatican Website, www.vatican.va and is also available as paperback in the Catholic bookshop, for $12.95.

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Page 14 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Former Premier heaps praise on wealth of Gippsland SIR Charles Gavan Duffy was a Young Irelander rebel who came to Victoria where he was elected to parliament and became Premier in 1871.

He was best known for his Land Act of 1862 which began the process of opening up the land for selection by ordinary people.

In 1887 he stood successfully for the seat of North Gippsland. Below are excerpts from a speech he gave at Sale on Monday April 9, 1877, as part of his campaign.

“I have travelled Gippsland from Flinn’s Creek to settlements lying beyond the Mitchell and the Tambo. I have seen its marvellous resources and its enchanting scenery, which I shrink from attempting to describe, because it is impossible to describe them without seeming to use the language of flattery and exaggeration.

There are sovereign states in Europe whose resources will scarce bear comparison with those of this province.

In Gippsland I have travelled from Briagolong to Maffra, and thence to Cowwarr, a district justly called the granary of the East; I afterwards visited Bruthen and Lindenow Flat, at the other end of the electorate, and in all these places I had the inexpressible pleasure of being assured by legions of prosperous farmers, who possess the soil, that they obtained their homesteads under what has been named the Duffy Land Act. Day after day as I pursued my journey, district after district of the finest land I even saw exhibited the best crop that land can rear – a crop of independent and prosperous yeomanry, who declared it was I who had planted them there.

And why is not the picture repeated all over Victoria? Why have we not Maffras and Lindenows in the west as well as in the east? Because the very class for whom the Act was passed, the class who has made happy and contented proprietors in Gippsland, hired themselves to the squatters in so many other places to defeat and betray it.

Gippsland History with Patrick Morgan You may tender benefits and blessings to men, but you cannot prevent them, like the swine in the parable, from treading them under their feet.

The farmers of Gippsland, from Newry to Culgulmerang, are living witnesses what the Land Act of ’62 was designed to effect for all their class, and what it has successfully accomplished in this province.

You have here also one significant example, at any rate, of how the good was turned into evil by unscrupulous men.

The land between Sale and Rosedale was “dummied”, and, where you ought to have customers and clients, friends and neighbours, you have only herds of bullocks shut up behind sixteen miles of posts and rails.

No one can make the journey I have been making without having forced upon him the conclusion that we have only half taken possession of this country.

Twenty years hence it will probably carry four times as much stock as it does now, when the paddock choked with dead timber and other debris becomes a well grassed meadow, and the kangaroo makes way for the sheep; and the annual yield of gold, which is receding gradually, will probably take a bound forward when we remove the barrier that stops mining enterprise at the threshold of private property, and when we substitute the most skilful and scientific method of extracting gold for the method now in use.

And I am confident, from observation of southern countries in the old world, that when we come to practice what we called the “petty industries”, though the results are by no means petty, we will double the value of our agricultural produce.

Prayer crusade begins soon OVER 14,000 Catholics around Australia have already agreed to participate in the 5th Knights of the Southern Cross National Prayer Crusade for Vocations, which will take place from September 4 until November 26.

A Papal Blessing has been granted to all who participate in the Crusade.

The Prayer Crusade aims to pray for an increase in vocations generally, but more particularly that more priests and deacons will be released to provide badly needed military chaplains for the Australian Defence Force. Catholic members and their families number about 40,000.

The national coordinator for the crusade, Bob Perkins, is very pleased with the support coming from schools, colleges,

members of the Knights of the Southern Cross, the Catholic Women’s League, the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, religious Orders and parishioners. It is obvious that Catholics certainly care about vocations (particularly chaplains for our Armed Forces) and are committed to praying for more people to respond to God’s call.

If all the schools, colleges and Catholic organisations from last year again take part, we should have over 25,000 participants in 2011.

As the total commitment is to say the special Crusade Prayer every day for one week during the Crusade period, everyone can join!

To take part email neo@ksca. org.au or call (02) 6247 2977 (Mon, Wed & Fri).

I have been gathering some experience on this subject in Gippsland.

I had occasion to speak some time ago of the immense gains won in these pursuits by countries smaller and less fertile than Victoria; olive oil, for example, yields more to Italy than all her goldfields yield to Victoria; Spain gets from dried fruit sent to the markets of Europe and Australia a larger return than we do from our wool clip, and France doubles the gains of Spain and Italy.

I ventured to urge on that occasion that we might compete for some of the profits, without displacing a single flock or unhipping a windlass, as women and children did the work; and among the general welcome given to the suggestion by the press, one writer objected that in Australia we have no women or children disengaged for the purpose, the former being employed in household pursuits,

the latter at school.

I wish this gentleman made a tour of Gippsland, and he would see how his objections disappear before the existing facts; for a similar system is coming into operation here without disturbance of either domestic economy or the economy of schools.

I was in the house of a yeoman proprietor at Briagolong, who brought me to see a cheese factory established by a joint stock company of farmers in his neighborhood, where the milk of twenty farms is taken daily at a fixed price, and manufactured into excellent cheese.

“I do not employ one additional hand,” he said, “on this account: that girl who is playing Moore’s melodies milked a dozen cows this morning, and nearly every one in the house did as much; the result is a profit of £10 a week, the greater part of which would otherwise be lost.”

At Bairnsdale I saw long rows of hop gardens along the banks of the Mitchell, and when I inquired about the labor employed on them, I was told that the local Board of Advice took the very sensible course of arranging the school holidays to correspond with the period of hop picking, which, in fact, became a long frolic and picnic for the children.

This is the way labor is got for the petty industries, without disturbing ordinary pursuits.

There were tobacco plantations also on the Mitchell, worked by Chinese, who are not, I fancy, withdrawn from any regular industries of the country, and certainly not from any domestic duties.”

Acknowledgement is made to the State Library of Victoria for the text of the Gavan Duffy talk, and to Peter Synan for the photo.

Catherine of Siena - mystic CATHERINE OF SIENA - A Passionate Life by Don Brophy, published by Darton, Longman and Todd, distributed by Rainbow Books, paperback, 290 pages, rrp $39.95.

CATHERINE of Siena is known around the world as one of the great mystics of the Church.

Like her Italian saintly counterparts Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Avila, she was also a great teacher and reformer.

She lived in the turbulent age of the 1300s when Europe was torn apart by a succession of conflicts.

Bubonic plague was widespread and life for women was either being shuttered in the kitchens or living in a convent.

This dymanic and influential figure became a Dominican sister but instead of being cloistered or confined to a life of prayer, she reached out to the world.

She campaigned for peace among warring factions and struggled to reform the Church.

She helped to persuade Pope Gregory XI to leave Avignon in France and return the Papacy to Rome.

She was revered as a holy woman in her lifetime and narrowly survived an assassination attempt.

Her first recorded vision was at the age of six when she reported seeing Christ in the sky She was a prolific writer and achieved much in her short life which ended when she was only 33.

This book is a wonderful biography which helps us to better understand this remarkable woman and her influence on the

Talking about Books Church of the middle ages.

30 DAYS OF PRAYER WITH MARY, by Fr Francis Gargini, CSsR, published by Ligouri Publications, distributed by Rainbow Books, paperback, 32 pages, rrp $3.95.

AS we have just celebrated the Assumption, it is timely to review this small booklet which draws us closer to prayer with Mary.

It is a simple book of prayers to Our Lady, some only a few lines long, but through its pages we can pray daily with a new prayer.

It starts with the Hail Mary and while many of the prayers are familiar, some are special

prayers to Our Lady by various saints.

MY MORNING ANGEL,

by Cat Darens, illustrated

by Julia Oliver, published

by Ambassador Children’s Books, distributed by Rainbow Books, cardboard pages, 20 pages, rrp $11.95.

THIS is a lovely illustrated book of one morning prayer to be read to young children at the start of the day.

Being made from cardboard it is virtually indestructible and so if a child wants to carry the book around with them you can let them.

A worthy children’s book.

Central Catholic Bookshop 322 Lonsdale St., Melbourne (Next door to St Francis Church) Visit our Website at www.catholicbookshop.com.au

Browse through our range of books and sacramental and religious gifts, or search for specific items by author, title or keyword.

Open seven days Phone and mail orders welcome. Credit cards accepted.

Phone (03) 9639 0844 custserv@catholicbookshop.com.au

Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 15

The road to the Field of Stars

By Mike Hansen THE Hindus, I am told, talk about the four ages of men.

The first 20 years is about growing up, formal education and nurturing from parents.

From 20 to 40 a man makes his way in the world carving out a career, choosing a life style and perhaps marrying and having a family.

From 40 to 60 he pays back to the community and exercises his talents for the good of all.

And then when he is 60 years old he goes into the forest, chooses a tree and sits under it.

Right on schedule, I responded to the lure of the Camino de Compostella and travelled the road to Santiago, marking the start of my own fourth age.

The road became my tree of contemplation and chance for reflective discovery.

This series of journal extracts is a humble attempt to share my experiences of the spiritual search on the way to the ‘Field of Stars’.

London- In Transit Sitting on the tarmac of Stansted airport waiting for my transfer to Biarritz in France, I reflected on my long Qantas flight from Australia. Winging through the night, lulled by the dull drone of the engines, sustained by surprisingly good food, I allowed myself to soak up the possibilities of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella ... the Field of Stars.

Through my window seat I could see the massed lights of towns and cities as we passed overhead ... clustered energy of life stilled by darkness, reflected in the brilliant swarms of the night sky.

Which is the true field of stars? Is it the one in the heavens that hovers over the burial place of St James, plump sign from heaven of a holy place? Or is it the gathering places of men and women going about their daily lives in the best way they

Haiku

THE second instalment of a series of reflections

by Traralgon parishioner Mike Hansen on his pilgrimage from France to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, the burial place of the apostle St James.

Quick calendar

What’s on & when August 11-26 – World Youth Day pilgrimage to Madrid 17 - August Catholic Life published 17 – CDF Board meeting 18 - Valley region meeting, Moe, noon.

22 – Finance Council meeting 24 – West region meeting, St Michael’s new hall, Berwick, 10.30am 31 – Applications for funding from Bishop’s Family Foundation close 31 – Deadline for September Catholic Life

September THE gateway at the start of the journey in Spain at St Jean Pied de Port, looking back into town. can?

But there is another gate at Passing like a shadow of sil- the opposite end of the street ver between heaven and earth, that bisects the old town withthe clarity of where one really in the walls. It is through this belongs became apparent. Like other gate that my journey into my planned walk, we must live Spain would begin. with our feet firmly planted on This gateway is little more of the ground, with the night sky an opening really. There is scant for wonder and guidance ... but about it that is attractive. There not with our head in the clouds. is no arched elegance or heavy The Journey Begins hinged oak door. Two brick pilI climbed to the citadel above lars declare that all traffic will Saint Jean Pied de Port before pass here, a prosaic announcethe town woke to the day and ment of convenience ... hardly before the tourists arrived. The a seductive lure to spiritual romance. pilgrims had all departed.

Is it not true, though, that new I walked to the nearby Gate doors present themselves even of the Feet, that portal through which all the French pilgrims at the very moment of disaphad to pass coming from La pointment? It became even Puy, Limoges, and Paris. The more apparent to me that there wooden doors are still extant, is not one right path to fulfilopen now for the road traffic ment.

In a few short hours I would but originally part of this walled begin a journey that had postown’s defences. sessed my imagination for so This is the door that had loomed large in my imagina- long. Doors bear little resemtion and I had visions of pass- blance to what will transpire ing through it on my way ... a when the threshold has been ritual of great symbolism. But, passed.

It is what is left behind when arriving by train, we entered the town through a breach in the the threshold is crossed that is important and the possibiliold wall.

I realised that when I would ties that open themselves way leave for Spain the next morn- beyond our gathered and haring, the Gate of the Feet would boured expectations.

A luminous prayer flashed be behind me as I stepped out across my mind: May I leave onto the road. It would make little sense to walk through a my fortified life behind and engateway that leads away from ter a new path of meaning and desire! my destination.

4 – Father’s Day 5 – Diocesan CSYMA student conference, Lavalla Catholic College, Traralgon 7-9 – Australasian Catholic Press Association conference, Adelaide 9-11 – Australasian Religious Press Association conference, Adelaide 13 – Central Region meeting, Marian Room, St Joseph’s, Warragul, 7.30pm 14 - September Catholic Life published 18 – Solemn High Mass in Latin, to celebrate 96th anniversary of St Mary’s Cathedral, Sale , 11am.

19-23 – Sale Diocese clergy in-service, Corpus Christ College, Carlton 23 – Healing Mass at St Joseph’s, Korumburra with Fr Peter Bickley. 6pm exposition, 7pm Mass 23 - School holidays begin 23-25 – WYD boot camp post retreat 28 – WYD national briefing day

October 3 – Deadline for October Catholic Life 7-24 – Bishop in Rome for Ad Limina meeting 10 - Fourth term begins 11 - Heart region meeting,

(venue TBA), 4pm 11 – Diocesan Migrant Sunday Mass celebrated by Bishop Prowse, Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Narre Warren, 2pm 12 - October Catholic Life published 19 – CDF Board meeting 20 - Valley region meeting, Newborough, noon.

22-23 Youth ministry leader training (venue TBA) 26 – Finance Council meeting 31 – Deadline for November Catholic Life

November 1 – Melbourne Cup holiday 1 – All Saints Day 2 – All Souls Day 8 – East region meeting, Orbost, 10.30am 9 - South region meeting, St Laurence’s parish centre, Leongatha, 11.30am 9 - November Catholic Life published 11 – Remembrance Day 15 – Central Region meeting, St Ita’s parish room, Drouin, 7.30pm 23 – West Region meeting, St Michael’s new hall, Berwick, 10.30am 27 – First Sunday of Advent 28 – Deadline for December Catholic Life

December 1 – Valley Region Christmas break-up, Morwell Club, noon 4 – Advent reflection afternoon 6 - Heart region break up (venue TBA) 7 - December Catholic Life published 14 – Joint meeting of CDF Board and Finance Council (tentative) 16 - Primary schools breakup 25 – Christmas Day 26 – Boxing Day 31 – New Year’s Eve

St James’ Primary celebrates its feast day The Gate of the Feet, open to all who would walk ‘The Way’ sincerely... high enough to mark the passage of those burdened and hunched over, broad enough to make room for those who walk assisted, shouldered by others... whose tired feet make smooth passage through this ancient and rustic doorway. * Haiku: a Japanese poetry form using stanzas of 17 syllables

NAR NAR GOON - St James Catholic School Nar Nar Goon celebrated their namesake day on Monday July 25 in style for the whole day.

The day began with a Mass to celebrate the Disciple St James the Greater, where the congregation were given some background information about St James.

He was an interesting man who was a fisherman, and was asked to follow Jesus.

The school motto is reflective of St James’ calling with the words ‘Come Follow Me’ imprinted across the school apparel as well as the culture of

school community.

After Mass, the school celebrated with morning tea in the foyer of the Hall.

It was a credit to see students practising their social etiquette by sharing food and looking after one another and taking a step back from the table to allow others to enjoy.

Students went back into the classrooms to participate in learning about St James and responding in different ways through murals, quizzes, paintings, colorings and reflection.

St James School believes it is important that all students have an understanding of the great

man their school is named after and that the underlying Christian values of Jesus are very much part of the school culture.

The students enjoyed the activities provided in the classrooms.

After lunch, the celebrations continued with an incursion from performer, Gillian Eastoe.

The children were taken on a musical journey where they experienced many different genres of music in a variety of ways.

The students were invited to participate in country and western, jazz, blues, pop, and rock and roll.

The entertainers were excel-

lent musicians and were able to engage all students in performing the tune ‘Humpty Dumpty’ in different musical genres.

It was wonderful to see the likes of principal Anne Hassall and Mr Vermeer dressed as Blues musicians with hats and sunglasses, holding toy saxophone and trumpet and mimicking the likes of James Morison to the tune of Sway.

Students were selected from all different grade levels to perform with the duo in all different genres and the roar from the crowd was electric letting the performers know they loved it all.

Page 16 - Catholic Life, August 2011

A Page for Youth

‘Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith’ (Col 2:7)

Columba 10 Years

Good Youth News with Jess Denehy & Kelly Lucas

HASTA luego!

When this issue of Catholic Life hits parishes this month we will be smack bang in the middle of our World Youth Day (WYD) 2011 pilgrimage in beautiful Spain.

WYD is an annual celebration started by Pope John Paul II as a way to inspire the youth and encourage them in living the teachings of Christ.

The first official WYD was held in Rome in 1986. Since then there have been 10 inter-

national WYD celebrations including the memorable and grace-filled Sydney WYD in 2008.

Approximately two million young pilgrims are expected in Madrid for WYD from August 15-22, including over 50 young people from the Diocese of Sale.

The theme for WYD2011 is “Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith” (cf Col 2:7).

During the WYD week

young people from across the globe will gather in catechesis sessions to break open some of the teachings of the faith in context of the WYD theme.

You can follow all the action of WYD from the comfort of home on www.xt3.com/wyd and even participate in a pilgrimage “in spirit” with the WYD pilgrims through www. virtualworldyouthday.org.

Please keep all of the pilgrims in your prayers during this time.

Fabulous fiesta at cathedral THE sun shone down brilliantly on St Mary’s Cathedral in Sale on Sunday July 31 where over 200 people enjoyed the festivities of the annual Diocesan Youth Gathering and WYD2011 Fiesta.

The day began with Mollie Gawley and Jarryd Atkinson welcoming young people and their families from all over the diocese who had responded to Bishop Christopher Prowse’s invitation to celebrate Mass at the cathedral.

As Kevin Woodhouse and the student band from St Francis Xavier College led the opening hymn the sense of joy and enthusiasm in the cathedral, no doubt inspired by the Holy Spirit, was clear to all. Young people from every region of the diocese, and every Catholic secondary college in the diocese, some planning to attend WYD and some not, participated in the Mass which was attended by over 200 people.

At the conclusion of Mass Bishop Prowse invited all those present who were planning to attend WYD2011 forward to be blessed by him and the community, and to receive a small gift from the diocese.

A scrumptious “taste of Spain” lunch, generously prepared by Miriam Elgueta and

PREP student Abbie enjoying Columba Day. BERWICK - Columba Catholic Primary school in Bunyip celebrated its 10 year anniversary with Columba Day celebrations.

The day kicked off with Mass and the naming of the school buildings, MacKillop and Iona.

After recess students then moved into rotation activities including jumping castles, legacy bricks and junior master chef.

Youth lend a helping hand

FR Dariusz Jablonski and Sr Mercy Akoh SON, Cranbourne, dress up to look like Spanish peasants. her band of merry volunteers, tling, tenpin bowls, a Spanish greeted young people as they dancing exhibition and soulful spilled out of the Cathedral. tunes from Gren Jones and his Gathered around picnic tables band. and basking in the sunshine Many thanks to all the voleveryone enjoyed paella, Span- unteers and participants who ish meatballs and sausages. The made the day the joyous, graceafternoon was rounded out with filled event that it was! a jumping castle, sumo wres-

Youth ministry staff training takes place in Sydney A TRIP to Sydney was on order for ten of our secondary school staff involved with the youth ministry program CSYMA. The three day retreat and conference was an opportunity for staff from all over the country to come together for formation and training. So often staffs are told them must nurture the spiritual lives of students and provide retreat opportunities but so often then never get this experience themselves.

A beautiful lunch was supplied by the parents and friends before the talent quest in the afternoon.

The talent and bravery shown during the talent quest really encompassed the Columba motto, ‘Let your light shine’.

Students, staff and guests had a wonderful day reminiscing over the last 10 years and looking forward to Columba’s future.

While the time in Sydney was intense it was also enriching for many of the staff there.

With renewed spirit and extra resources and knowledge we pray our teachers will continue to make a difference with our young people.

PICTURED: Enjoying their Sydney visit are (from left) Liz, Maree, Kiralee, Jose and Simon.

REBECCA (centre) from St Francis Xavier College, Beaconsfield, working with students from St Michael’s, Berwick.

ALL over the dioceses secondary school students from youth ministry classes (CSYMA) have been helping grade six students prepare for confirmation.

Parishes from Cranbourne to Sale have worked with the secondary school students to run fantastic reflection days. Activities include drama, prayer, art, tree planting and sometimes even jewellery making.

This opportunity for peer to peer ministry is such a treasure.

Both the year sixes and the secondary school students gain so much from the day.

The Holy Spirit is working overtime with or wonderful young people.

Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 17

For the Young and Young at Heart Time for a Laugh AN elderly patient gets hearing aids from a doctor.

After short time, he meets the doctor again.

Doctor, “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased.”

Patient, “Oh, I am in a funny situation now. I haven’t told my family yet.

I just sit and listen to their conversations. In a month, I’ve changed my will three times!”

A SOLICITOR was well into a lengthy cross-examination of a witness, stopped and said: “I object, Your Honor! One of the jurors is asleep.”

The Judge ruled: “You put him to sleep... You wake him up.”

AFTER being away on business, Tim thought it would be nice to bring his wife a little gift.

“How about some perfume?” he asked the cosmetics clerk.

She showed him a bottle costing $50.00.

“That’s a bit much,” said Tim, so she returned with a smaller bottle for $30.00.

“That’s still quite a bit,” Tim complained.

Growing annoyed, the clerk brought out a tiny $15.00 bottle.

“What I mean,” said Tim, “is I’d like to see something really cheap.”

The clerk handed him a mirror.

LITTLE Johnny came downstairs bellowing lustily.

His mother asked, “What’s the matter now” “Dad was hanging pictures, and just hit his thumb with a hammer,” said Johnny through his tears. “That’s not so serious,” soothed his mother. “I know you’re upset, but a big boy like you shouldn’t cry at something like that. Why didn’t you just laugh?” “I did!” sobbed Johnny.

DID you hear about the young woman who went away to her first conference.

She didn’t turn up at the first session so her boss called her room.

She answered the phone, crying, and said she couldn’t get out of her room.

“You can’t get out of your room?” the boss asked, “Why not?”

The girl replied: “There are only three doors in here,” she sobbed, “one is the bath-

Action from the rodeo

room, one is the cupboard, and one has a sign on it that says ‘Do Not Disturb’!”

A BOY went to his grandfather’s house for a week.

On the first night at dinner he found a thick, slimy goo on his plate, so he said to his grandfather “Grandpa is this plate clean?”

“As clean as cold water can get them.” his grandfather answered. This went on for the rest of the week.

On the last day when the boy was leaving the dog wouldn’t let him through.

So he said “Grandpa your dog won’t let me through.”

His grandfather replied “Cold Water go lie down!”

A MAN reading a magazine in his sitting room sat opposite his son, who was having dinner.

The son had two cakes in his plate. After watching his plate for a while, he said to his dad, “Daddy, I can prove that there are three cakes in myplate,” “Go ahead,” his dad urged him.

So the son pointed at the first cake and said, “This is one,” Then, pointing to the second, he said, “This is two.

One and two make three.”

“Genius,” his father praised.

“Now let me have the first cake, your mother the second and you the third.”

A MAN on a bike was stopped at the border by custom officers assigned to investigate goods transported across country borders.

He carried a bag of sand which they suspected might contain drugs.

After searching through the sand, the customs officer found nothing and therefore let him go.

The next day this man was stopped with his bike and a bag of sand and the same process carried out.

Again, he was let through when nothing illegal was found.

This sequence carried on for three years.

One day both men retired and they met in a bar in the border town.

“Tell me,” said the customs officer, “I promise I will not tell anyone; but what were you smuggling all those years?”

Surprised, the man, laughed and shrugged. “Bicycles.”

Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Age . . . . . .

Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Send entries to: Colouring Contest, c/- Catholic Life, PO Box 183, Sale. 3853

Winner of our snow contest WINNER of our snow scene colouring contest last month is Benjamin Campbell, 8, who attends St Joseph’s Primary in Warragul.

It is always hard to colourin a snow scene but Benjamin did a great job by putting bright clothing on the instructor and two students at the ski school, some blue into the distant mountains and various shades of green into the snow covered trees.

He’s certainly a deserving winner and we’ll get a prize to him in the next couple of weeks.

MADDIE HIll from Lumen Christi, Churchill, displays one of the new Australian Children’s Mass Books won by her in our contest. The other four winners are having their books sent to them. The prizes were courtesy our good friends at John Garrett Publishing.

Page 18 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Nagle works to revegetate Mitchell rainforest walk BAIRNSDALE - With the magnificent Mitchell River running alongside the school boundary, and the stunning backdrop of mountains and plains, Nagle College has an amazing educational advantage over most schools in Victoria, or even Australia.

Educational outcome opportunities by studying on this unique site are vast. Relevant environmental, cultural, spiritual, social, physical, scientific and artistic subjects – to name just a few - are able to utilise this site as an outdoor classroom and interconnect across the curriculum.

As stewards of the environment Nagle College has established the Friends of the Rainforest to work with community partners on a revegetation projects along the Mitchell River to re-instate local rainforest species vegetation.

The Nagle College Rainforest Project – a Stewardship in Action Project – was launched on July 27.

The launch took the form of an official gathering of staff, students and invited guests in Presentation Hall.

Following the acknowledgement to country by Year 12 student Blake Stevens, Robert Brennan gave a brief address outlining the significance of this project to the college and the wider community.

The attendees were also pro-

vided with information about the Rainforest Project by college captain Marcus Ryan whilst watching a visual presentation.

Guests were also entertained by a musical performance by a combined choir of staff and students who sang a song specially composed for the occasion titled ‘Mother Land’ with musical accompaniment by guitars, clapsticks and a didgeridoo.

Following the official part of the launch the guests were led on a walk through the interpretive walking trail which is being established as part of the Rainforest Project.

This walk on the Nagle College grounds adjoins the Mitchell River where staff and students have begun the process of re-instating indigenous vegetation zones.

As part of this ongoing revegetation all staff and students were asked to plant a seed which will be raised to a seedling. These seedlings will then be planted in dedicated areas in 2012 providing a meaningful link with the people and the project.

Following this activity all the students and staff were able to walk the trail to gain a better perspective on the aims of the Rainforest Project.

The Rainforest Project will allow students to develop a good understanding of the meaning, maintenance and importance of

OFFICIAL guests at the Rainforest Project launch were led along the interpretive walking trail which is being established through the temperate rainforest on the boundary of Nagle College and the Mitchell River. biodiversity and how this trans- through the Nagle College Landcare Group. lates to better health for the Friends of the Rainforest Group Interested community memriver and the East Gippsland under the direction of Nagle bers are welcome to contact community.

College Landcare.

Nagle College for further inforThere are opportunities This will provide a sister pro- mation or to register their interfor community involvement ject to the existing Picnic Point est.

world news ...

Millions need our assistance

THERE is hope for millions of East African families who can still be saved from tragedy if the Australian and international community is willing to avert this human catastrophe.

Caritas Australia Humanitarian Emergency Group project coordinator Richard Forsythe said “People can survive and that is happening every day since the world began to engage in this shocking drought.

“But it just isn’t enough.

We’re talking about 12.5 million people. It is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of this humanitarian disaster.

“Millions more are in deep trouble. In their tens of thousands, they are migrating through searing desert heat in a desperate to get food and water.”

“Australia and the world needs to realise just how critical this situation is or an inex-

plicable number of people will perish.”

Caritas Australia has a strong presence in Kenya. Statistics from the region are frightening.

• There has been a six-fold increase in the mortality of children under 5 and may also join Somalia in being declared a famine.

• 25 percent of new arrivals (specifically children) to Kenya are malnourished.

• 1300 Somalian and Ethiopian arrivals every day to Dadaab refugee camp. This is not sustainable.

• One quarter of population of Ethiopia (7.5 million people) is displaced and moving within Ethiopia, Kenya and beyond the region of the Horn of Africa.

So far Caritas Australia has had success in the following areas: Food distribution including food/cash vouchers for work/

assets, and supplementary feeding for the most vulnerable people.

Delivery of potable water – water harvesting and storage (tanks), rehabilitation and drilling of boreholes, hygiene education and provision of aqua tabs.

Livestock survival is a major concern and Caritas has been engaged in destocking, restocking and hay provision. “But the sad reality is many will not survived, particularly the aged, women and children. We need to do what we can now,” Mr Forsythe said.

He has been working in aid and development in Africa for over 20 years. He has a deep understanding of that region.

To donate to the East Africa Crisis Appeal go to: www. caritasaustralia.org.au/eastafricacrisis or phone: 1800 024 413.

Government asked to increase security

By Eva-Maria Kolmann IRAQ - After the latest attack on a Syrian-Catholic church in Kirkuk, the Syrian-Catholic Archbishop, Yohanna Petros Mouche, has asked the Iraqi government to guarantee better security in the country.

In an interview with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church

in Need he explained that such a terrorist attack was only possible due to inadequate security.

The local government is “weak and unable to assure security and stability in the region”.

He accused the rulers of being enmeshed in their own divisiveness, interested only in safeguarding their own positions and maintaining their share of

the nation’s wealth.

The Archbishop went on to point out “I hope that all what is happening in Iraq today, will only serve to consolidate the firmness of faith of our Christians and their solidarity with one another” and added. “No matter how big the evil may be, it can’t shake faithful hearts.

Brave souls stay firm”.

world news ...

Pilgrim centre opens ROME - Australia’s first pilgrim centre in Rome has officially opened – welcoming its first two guests.

Mother and daughter, Kirsty and Suzanne Marie Stewart are on a tour through Italy. They heard about Domus from their home in Adelaide and decided to book in.

They were welcomed by the general manager, Gabriel Griffa and the Rector Fr Anthony Denton.

“Everything looks so beautiful and brand new - it is very comfortable and something of which Australia can be very proud,” Mrs Stewart said.

Mother and daughter enjoyed a “good, hearty, Aussie breakfast” in the courtyard on the first morning before heading off to explore the Eternal City.

They were planning to return for Mass with Fr Denton in the magnificently restored Chapel of St Peter Chanel. This will be one very special feature of Domus, daily Mass in English.

Located at Via Cernaia, not far from Termini, the main railway station, Domus is a former student house of the Marist Fathers.

In December 2008, a group of Australian dioceses, led by the Archdiocese of Sydney and Cardinal George Pell, bought the building to establish a new

pilgrim house for visitors to Rome.

Cardinal Pell has often said a key aim in establishing the centre is to help tourists become pilgrims and is keen to welcome all Australian Catholics to Rome.

It also provides the opportunity to strengthen the link between the Catholic Church in Rome and the Catholic Church in Australia.

The complex comprises four main blocks surrounding a central internal courtyard. It is a quiet and peaceful refuge from the busy tourist sites but not that long ago it wasn’t so quiet.

The site has undergone massive restoration and renovation works. Hard to imagine what is seen now was once covered in scaffolding, trucks, bulldozers and dirt.

During this work sections of a wall and flooring dating back to the 1st century was uncovered.

This is now preserved and on display for visitors.

Domus can accommodate around 80 people in the 32 rooms which have their own ensuite bathroom, mini-bar, air-conditioning, heating, television and in fact all the extras you would expect in a hotel.

For further information www. domusaustralia.org .

Catholic Life, August 2011 - Page 19

New words, deeper meaning, same Mass

Classifieds

By Sophy Morley

public notices

wanted known

prayer

Let’s leave something for those in need

VOCATIONS

THANK YOU St Jude. O Holy St Jude Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need.

To you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to whom God has given such great power to come to my assistance. Help me in my present and urgent petition. In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked.

St Jude pray for us and all who invoke your aid. Amen.

Bishop’s Family Foundation If you are making or updating your will, you may consider leaving a bequest to the Bishop’s Family Foundation.

The Bishop’s Family Foundation has produced some easy-to-read booklets explaining bequests which may be an advantage to read before seeing your solicitor to prepare or update your will.

Copies may be obtained by phoning Pat on 5144 4991 Do it today and sleep easy knowing you have done your part.

PRIESTS AND DEACONS Are you considering a vocation as a priest or deacon for the Diocese of Sale?

If so please contact Diocesan Vocations Director Deacon Tony Aspinall 0414 468 692 vocations@sale.catholic.org.au

to help you discern God’s call

bingo Sacred Heart School

BINGO Every Friday

Morwell RSL Club, Elgin St., Morwell

wanted to buy GENUINE collector wants to buy old glass and ceramic bottles, any pre 1950 Gippsland advertising items, photographs, postcards, ephemera, anything old and interesting relating to Gippsland companies or towns. Everything and anything considered. Please call Chris on 5166 1846 or 0407 342 868. Preserving our history!!

Eyes down 11am. Ticket sales 10.30am Now 55 games at 20 cents per game.

Further details phone 5134 8484 or 5133 7221 (AH)

THIS month has seen the introduction of the new texts of the Creed.

You may notice that your Mass Pew Card has two versions of the Creed: the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed.

Whilst we are using to praying the Apostles’ Creed, it is not usually in the context of the Sunday liturgy.

Now, the priest has the choice, with approval of the local bishop, to pray the Apostles’ Creed at Sunday Masses.

In the Nicene Creed one of the first noticeable changes is the use of the first person singular e.g. I believe (instead of we believe). Although in its original form the Nicene Creed starts with We believe, both Greek and Latin Christians traditionally start the Creed with I believe when praying it in liturgy.

Also, the Latin word credo of itself means ‘I believe’, not ‘we believe’. The translators here have followed a directive in the 2001 rules for vernacular translation of the Roman liturgy which stipulates: “The Creed is to be translated according to the precise wording that the tradition of the Latin Church has bestowed upon it, including the use of the first person singular.”

The most noticeable and discussed change to the wording has been the introduction of the word consubstantial.

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It is a difficult word to say, as well as not being part of people’s normal vocabulary and the meaning of which may be obscure.

‘Consubstantial’ could be said to be a very precise, technical expression of the Church’s belief that Jesus Christ is God, no less so than his Father. In modern English, ‘substance’ is rarely used in the philosophical sense implied here.

The term ‘consubstantial’ tries to name the relationship of Jesus and the Father. This is very hard to do in any language, and near impossible in ordinary daily language.

The unusual nature of this word ‘consubstantial’ makes it even more important to use it in the Creed’s context. Allied to the Latin translation, we see that it mirrors the Latin term consubstantialis which describes Jesus as God, no less than the Father.

The new texts describing the Holy Spirit emphasise the teaching we find in the Gospels and Epistles: • The Holy Spirit, the Lord , the giver of life: 2 Cor 3:17-18: Now the Lord is the Spirit … for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

• The giver of life: 2 Cor 3:6: the Spirit gives life.

• Who proceeds from the Father and the Son: Jn 15:26: the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father • Who has spoken through the prophets: 2 Pet 1:21: no prophecy ever came from human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. In the last paragraph of the Creed, we now use the word confess instead of acknowledge. It has a stronger sense of proclaiming and asserting our faith.

The term confess in English tends to be used with a narrower range of meaning than the Latin verb confiteor, from which it is descended. Confiteor can mean profess, which is why we give the title Confessor to those who have heroically professed the faith.

The new translation of the Apostles’ Creed follows closely the versions already familiar in non-Eucharistic contexts.

The most notable aspect of the revised translation of the Apostles’ Creed is the change from ‘He descended to the dead’ to ‘He descended into hell’.

As with all the new texts for the Mass, the unfamiliar words can help us to slow down in praying either the Nicene Creed or the Apostles’ Creed, ponder their meaning and use them as the substance of further contemplation.

We may have different opinions about the necessity of a new English translation and about whether or not we like the new words, but essentially, beyond the unfamiliarity of texts and forgetting the new responses, something much deeper is at work here.

Page 20 - Catholic Life, August 2011

Sale students experience life in Aboriginal lands

By Liz Whitehill SANTA Teresa is not a place many Gippsland locals will have heard of, but to one group of Catholic College Sale Year 11 students, it is a place that they will never forget.

These eight students have returned from a seven day immersion in this Aboriginal community located 80km along a dusty road south east of Alice Springs.

Santa Teresa, also known as Ltyentye Apurte (pronounced La-ginge A-porta) is the land of the Arrernte People, an Aboriginal community of around 500 people with a strong Marist Brothers presence.

The Catholic College Sale students were hosted by the community school and the brothers, but were also engaged in many other activities during their stay.

The experience was an immersion - quite different from a tourist visit. Each student gained an insight and an appreciation for the harshness of life and conditions in outback Australia.

The CCS students were involved in a school based program in which each student was allocated a local indigenous student to tutor throughout the week, a program which turned out to be very successful for all.

The students also had the opportunity to work at the Santa Teresa Community Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Centre, where they cooked for the local meals on wheels service and delivered the packages to the elders of the community.

Although very shy, the local Arrernte people warmed to the group of visitors and told many stories of their traditions and culture.

One small group of CCS students was taken out bush with the Aboriginal elder women to collect bush medicine. The women explained how they would make the leaves into pastes and elixirs to heal a variety of conditions.

Among other things, the students were privileged to attend a traditional smoking ceremony. Green leaves are placed on a small fire and the smoke created is used to cover the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; bodies, ridding them of what is not needed. The ceremony signifies leaving behind troubles and beginning some- MAKAYLA Rimington (left) with two Aboriginal women from Santa Teresa, collecting bush Medicine for the elders. thing new.

The students visited the cenAboriginal art forms a major part of the soul of the Ltyentye tre and were able to watch these Apurte community. The Catho- gifted women create some lic church walls are adorned by amazing pieces The Catholic College Sale fabulous works of art created by the local woman, telling the students have returned with a story of faith and the Keringke refreshed appreciation for their Arts centre located in the com- own lives and a renewed permunity is a world renowned spective on their education and future.

Aboriginal arts studio.

Donation Form: Children Praying the Rosary - Joy, Light, Sorrow & Glory

Aid to the Church in Need â&#x20AC;Ś. a Catholic charity dependent on the Holy See, providing pastoral relief to needy and oppressed Churches

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ARRIVING at Santa Teresa, the adventure begins! Group members (from left)Daniel Jackson, Jamie Kemp, Shannell Holland, Carl Scott, Makayla Rimington, Luke Randle-Annear, Liz Whitehill, Br Paul Murphy, Hailey Shanahan and Sophie Thomas.

DANIEL Jackson is being smoked by local woman, Mia, during a healing ceremony.