Catholic LifeCatholic LifeFreePublication of the Diocese of Sale ISSUE 155 October 2011

Offi cercampusunder way - Page 8

Nigeriansarrive indiocese - Page 3

WorldMissionfeature- Page 11

Priest a man of few words

Your gift will go on giving

When you donate to the Bishop’s Family Foundation you can be assured that the money will be assisting families in need for many years to come. Donated funds are held in a trust account to go on earning interest year after year. It is

the income from these investments which have led to more than $700,000 being to organisations running programs to assist families in Sale Diocese.

Send tax deductible donations to Bishop’s Family Foundation,PO Box 508, Sale, 3853

Phone 5144 6132 for more information

THE sudden death of Ob-late priest Fr John Dunlea, 79, on September 26 came as a shock to many.

He had been suffering ill health for a long while and af-ter treatment in Melbourne, he decided to return home to his beloved parishioners at Moe to spend his fi nal days with them.

Three days later he was dead.

In life Fr Dunlea was a man of few words and so this shy-priest would have been embar-rassed at his funeral to hear the many words in his praise for his caring, pastoral nature.

He regarded his life as a mis-sionary priest as nothing more than God’s work.

He had spent a total 23 years in Moe, 20 of them as parish priest, and was responsible for building St Kieran’s Church in the 1970s.

Moe was his home and the

people of Moe were his people – most of them migrants like himself.

At the requiem Mass at St Ki-eran’s on September 30, more than 40 clergy attended includ-ing a large number of Oblates.

Bishop Christopher Prowse was main celebrant, concel-ebrating with Oblate Provin-cial Fr Harry Dyer and Bishop Emeritus Jeremiah Coffey.

Fr Dunlea, grew up in Cork, Ireland, and attended primary school with Bishop Coffey.

After primary school, he started his working life in the offi ce of a bakery where his father and two uncles had de-livery rounds but a year later began his secondary schooling and fi nally entered the Oblate novitiate at Cahermoyle, Lim-erick, in 1952.

The following year he went to the major seminary at Piltown, Kilkkenny, where he studied philosophy and theology.

He was ordained a priest in 1957 and was asked to indicate three preferences of where he would like to be sent. He chose the Philippines, California and home mission but was stunned to fi nd he was being sent to Western Australia.

Initially he was terribly home sick, especially when he found himself celebrating his fi rst Christmas Mass on Rotnest Island off the West Australian coast.

He spent three and half years at Fremantle working with the last Italian migrant community and was then transferred to the rural parish of Lesmurdie, where again there was a large Italian migrant population working in the orchards.

Fr Dunlea came to Gippsland in 1966 when he took over as

parish priest at Moe, which had been run by the Oblates, since the parish was founded in 1949.

Again he was surrounded by a predominantly migrant popu-lation, most of them working for the State Electricity Com-mission.

The parish celebrated Mass on the ground fl oor of St Ki-eran’s School, so he set about building a new church for the town.

At the time, it was an ex-tremely modern design with pews fanning out from the altar and outside he had a large cross erected which could be seen from most parts of Moe.

In 1972 Fr Dunlea left Moe for the outskirts of Adelaide where he was fi rst parish priest of the rapidly expanding Tea Tree Gully area. He also built the parish primary school while there.

From there it was six years back in Lesmurdie, then in

1985 he moved to Brisbane to become parish priest of the newly establish Burpengary, where he again oversaw build-ing of its parish school.

He returned to Moe in 1995 and found it a much changed town from the one he had left 23 years earlier.

The privatisation of the SEC had led to high unemployment and many young families had been forced to move away.

Fr Dunlea retired four years ago and chose to remain in Moe to support new parish priest Fr Bernie O’Brien.

In his younger days Fr Dun-lea was a keen athlete and hurl-ing player, but in Australia he found a love of golf which nev-er left him, and he always tried to fi t in a couple of rounds of golf a week.

After his funeral, mourners gathered at Moe Racing Club, while the cortege took his re-mains to Springvale Botanical

Cemetery.The funeral was attended by

Fr Dunlea’s sister and a niecewho arrived from Ireland just before he died.

BISHOP of Sale Christopher Prowse is currently in Rome to meet with Pope Benedict XVI and report on the state of Sale Diocese.

The Australian bishops fl ew out at the weekend for their fi ve-yearly Ad Limina visitswith the Pope and various di-castries.

Such visits have been takingplace for more than 1000 years with each diocese expected toprovide a detailed report.

Bishop Prowse sent his 100 page report earlier this year.

Fr John Dunlea dies

Bishop inRome forAd Limina

MOE parishioners escort the coffi n of Fr John Dunlea OMI to the hearse watched by the gathered clergy, including Bishop Christopher Prowse (centre) and Oblate Provincial Fr Harry Dyer (right).

Fr John Dunlea OMI

Page 2 - Catholic Life, October 2011

DURING much of the month of October I will be with other Aus-tralian bishops on our Ad Limina pilgrimage in Rome. Please pray for me.

It is an ancient pilgrimage. It dates back to at least Pope St Leo III (d.816).

It refers to a pilgrimage to the threshold of the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome. Briefl y, it stands for the visit bishops of a certain country pe-riodically make to Rome and the Apostolic See. Our last Ad Limi-na Australian visit was in March 2004.

It will be an opportunity for me to make a spiritual renewal of the ministry given me as your Bishop – the Bishop of Sale. Also, there will be an opportunity to seek ad-vice and encouragement from the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

It will be a real blessing to speak to him privately. I will also meet curial offi cials. Some months

ago I submitted to the Vatican a report on the Diocese of Sale to assist these interviews.

As I renew my obedience and loyalty to the Vicar of Christ, I know your prayers and thoughts will strengthen and sustain me.

With the bishops of Australia in Rome, I will celebrate Mass in the basilicas of St Peter’s, St Paul’s, St John Lateran and St Mary Major.

We will visit various offi ces of the Vatican and discuss with many key Vatican personnel the state of the Church in Australia. We will receive advice and en-couragement.

This will strengthen the bonds of unity we share with the Holy

Father, the successor of St Peter, in the universal mission we share in making Jesus known and loved throughout the world.

I wish to involve the entire dio-cese in my Ad Limina visit. Your intercessory prayer for me would be a great gift. Together in some way we can experience afresh both the local and universal di-mensions of the Catholic Church.

It will assist in appreciating what we pray in our Creed: that we are part of the “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”.

Each one of these character-istics of the Church is vitally signifi cant for us in understand-ing ourselves as Catholics (CCC 811-870).

It is the Bishop’s particular duty to strengthen this foundational Catholic identity in his service of unity in his diocese.

Be assured that I will pray for you constantly in these precious days of spiritual renewal.

The Diocese of Sale is blessed with so many graces of the Holy Spirit. As we move more to a missionary mode in our pastoral priorities in the future, I will seek the Lord’s blessing on all our plans.

May we place the future of our diocese into the hands of the Sav-iour and His Mother, Our Lady Help of Christians.

Thank you so much in anticipa-tion of your prayer support, espe-cially in October.

God bless and protect each one of you and your wonderful fami-lies.

+ Bishop Christopher ProwseCatholic Bishop of Sale

To God’s Peoplein the Catholic

Diocese of Sale

Please pray for your bishop on pilgrimage in Rome

Catholic LifeDDIOCESE OF SALE

PO Box 183, Sale. Vic. 3853Phone: (03) 5144 6132

Fax: (03) 5144 3855catholiclife@sale.catholic.org.au

www.sale.catholic.org.au

Editor: Colin Coomber

Published monthly except January.

Deadline for advertising copy and editorial contributions for next issue is

Monday October 31.Issues distributed free through

parishes and schools fromNovember 9.Published by

Catholic Media Gippsland,an agency of the Diocese of Sale.

Printed by Express Print, Morwell.

Member ofAustralasian Catholic Press Association &Australasian Religious Press Association

Valley Funeral

Latrobe

Services

❏ Qualified, experienced and caring staff

❏ Modern chapels❏ Refreshments and catering

facilities available

❏ Secure, guaranteed, pre-paid and pre-arranged funeral plans

❏ Over 70 years of service to the Latrobe Valley

MORWELL 5134 4937

MOE 5126 1111

TRARALGON 5174 2258

Owned and operated byPaul and Katrina McInnes

Proud member of theAustralian Funeral Directors

Association and the Australian andBritish Institutes of Embalming

MARKRIDDLEConsultant

JOHNGALBRAITHConsultant

PAULMcINNESDirector

2002900

PO Box 124, Sale 3853204 Raymond St

www.lifefm.com.au

PH: 5143 0355Fax: 5143 0388

admin@lifefm.com.au

CHANCELLOR Fr Brian O’Connor considers himself lucky to be alive after a severe bacterial infection be believes he contracted from dust inhaled while putting some fl owers into pots.

He purchased the plants in Rosedale and repotted them into wire baskets at home, us-ing a bag of commercially mar-keted composted cow manure.

Two days later he came down with fl u-like symptoms and got sicker and sicker.

His doctor originally pre-scribed tablets for the potential-ly fatal legionella virus but after his health continued to decline, blood tests revealed his body was wreaked by a bacterial in-fection.

Levels of the bacteria in his blood was 138.2 compared a normal reading of 3.0 and he was put on tablets and oral drops to kill the bacteria.

Fr O’Connor said that at time he felt near to death and was anointed by both Bishop Prowse and Fr John Speekman. “I was so sick that I was willing to lay down and die.”

He went down to the archives offi ce to collect some papers and discovered to his horror that one of the hot water heat-ers had developed a hole and fl ooded everything.

On the way home he went shopping and put the grocer-ies on the back seat. At home he found he could not reach them from the driver’s side, so

he went around to the passen-ger side door and it was then he spied the half used bag of cow manure on the garage fl oor.

It jogged his memory and he realised that it was the likely cause of his bacterial infection. His doctor agrees it was prob-ably the cause.

He said he was annoyed that the website for the supplier of the product does not carry warnings of the dangers of us-ing the product.

Fr O’Connor has lost 10kg in weight and while his bacterial blood count has dropped to the low 20s, it is still seven times normal, and he has been suffer-ing circulation problems in his legs.

He said he could see God’s

presence in all of what had gone on and he certainly felt much closer to Jesus through his illness.

He said he believed that God had answered his prayers to be rescued from the infection and may have had a hand in the fl ooding of the offi ce. Had it not been for the shopping trip after discovering the fl ooded offi ce, he might never have been re-minded of repotting the fl owers.

The fl ood also had another

upside because it would enable him to set up the archives in theway they should have been laidout originally.

“I will forever be gratefulto God and I will never cease thanking him for the unique way that he has helped me.”

And a fi nal warning to other gardeners, “Wear a face maskwhen handling potting mix or dried manures to avoid inhalingthe dust.”

Bulldust infection fl oors green-thumbed chancellor

REPOTTING these fl owers caused a major infection.

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 3

Telephone: (03)5144 4311Email: 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 andInvestments Commission. Deposits with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale are guaranteed by CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian CatholicBishops Conference for this purpose. We welcome your investment with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale rather than with a profit orientated commercial organi-sation as a conscious commitment by you to support the Charitable, Religious and Educational works of the Catholic Church. Neither the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese ofSale nor the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Sale are prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority; contributionsto 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, Dioceseof Sale is designed for investors who wish to promote the charitable purposes of the Catholic Diocese of Sale.

The Catholic Development FundServing the Diocese of Sale

From the Mountains to the SeaCDF is supporting our

Parishes, Schoolsand Catholic Communities

Marriage, Family and Personal Counselling

For appointments phone:WARRAGUL 5622 1188SALE 5144 4868BAIRNSDALE 5153 2012BERWICK 5996 8095

Fees: Sliding scale. Dependent on income.Negotiable. (No-one refused service)

Centacare Gippsland

Morwell parishpriest announced

TWO new priests from Otukpo Diocese in Nigeria have arrived in Sale Diocese and have spent the past two weeks acclimatis-ing.

Fr Francis Otobo, and Fr Jo-seph Abutu, were selected by Bishop Christopher Prowse during his visit to Nigeria last year and are part of an ex-change of gifts between the two dioceses.

The Nigerians priests will serve here for three years.

Both are keen to serve as mis-sionary priests in Sale Diocese to bolster priest numbers here as a way of repaying the many European missionaries which took the faith to Africa.

Fr Otobo, 37 last week, has had fi rst hand experience of that missionary zeal as he became a Christian in his teens.

He grew up in an extended

family in which his father had fi ve wives and 15 children. His mother had three sons to his fa-ther and she has also become a Catholic.

He said that it was once com-mon for men to have many wives in Nigeria but was less-common nowadays. There was no law against it but with the Catholic Church disapproving, the custom was quickly chang-ing.

He was ordained a priest at St Francis Cathedral, Otukpo, in 2001.

Fr Abutu, 35 next month, also grew up in a rural area but his family was already Catholic.

He has two sisters and three brothers and was ordained a priest three years ago in St Francis Cathedral, Otukpo, by the current Bishop of Otukpo, Michael Apochi.

Nigerian priests aim to repay the missionary spirit

FR Joseph Abutu (left) and Fr Francis Otobo.

CARMELITE priest Fr Hugh Brown has been announced as parish priest of Morwell parish.

Bishop Christopher Prowse announced the appointment last week after discussions with his consultors.

The Morwell position has been fi lled by a series of admin-istrators since 2003 when Fr John Speekman was removed by Bishop Jeremiah Coffey.

Fr Brown, who is also parish priest of Churchill, has been the administrator of Morwell since the start of this year and will now reside at Sacred Heart presbytery.

He was ordained in Went-worthville, NSW, by Cardinal Edward Clancy in 1975 and served fi ve years as prior of the Carmelite Theological College at Donvale.

He was a senior lecturer at Macauley College, Brisbane for four years, before serving six years as principal of White-friars College, Donvale.

He was parish priest at Mid-dle Park and Port Melbourne before coming to Sale Diocese, originally to work in the Catho-

lic Education Offi ce.He has been Churchill parish

priest since the end of 2006 and was chaplain to Monash Uni-versity from 2008 to 2010.

Assistant priest at Morwell and Churchill will be the newly arrived Fr Francis Otobo.

In other announcements Fr Speekman has been appointed assistant priest at the cathedral parish, Sale.

Fr Joseph Abutu has been made assistant priest at Leon-gatha-Korumburra but will livein Cranbourne until December when Fr Peter Kooloos returns from sabbatical leave.

Fr Anura Gamlath has re-turned to Sri Lanka after three months in Sale Diocese.

He had never sought to come to Australia but had been con-vinced by his bishop to serve three years here after previous-ly refusing the opportunity.

Homesickness and inability to cope with Australia’s winter temperatures were the catalyst for his return.

Fr Gamlath fl ew back to SriLanka a fortnight ago after meeting with Bishop Prowse.

Page 4 - Catholic Life, October 2011

The pain of loneliness

Reflectionsby Jim Quillinan

TurnbullsGIPPSLAND

TURNBULL TOYOTA303 York St.,

SALE5144 9898

287 Commercial RdYARRAM5182 5722

Yarram, Traralgon, Bairnsdale,Sale, Pakenham, Jindabyne

Phone 0417 376 483

TURNBULL USED CARS73 Argyle St.,TRARALGON

5174 8290LMCT 2140

IN an attempt to describe his own struggle with loneliness, Van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo: “One may have a blaz-ing hearth in one’s soul, yet no one ever comes to sit by it. Pas-sersby see only a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney and continue on their way.”

It is an extraordinarily pow-erful image, especially when one considers just how painful and isolating loneliness can be. Every so often we read of some-one dying alone, sometimes not discovered for weeks or even months after their death. Why did no-one miss them? Did no-one call on them? Did they have no family, no friends, no partner? What is sometimes even more distressing is that we discover that they did have fam-ily – Eric Bogle’s song about Clare Campbell was written because her body was not dis-covered for 12 months. She lay alone in that house despite the fact that she had family living in the same town. But what of her neighbors, the others in her street?

There are many faces to loneliness – even those on a crowded street, in the middle of the workplace, in the heart of the family can suffer from this predicament. Sometimes there seems no rhyme or reason why this should occur. But it does.

Cell phones and text messag-es, e-mails and Web sites, smart phones and Skype have possi-bly made us more connected, but less communicative; more contactable, but less present to each other, less aware of each other; more reachable and yet somehow so much more iso-lated.

There is so much noise now, so many ceaseless opportuni-ties for entertainment or dis-traction, that I wonder whether we realise that there are many lonely people close by – we may be even less aware of our own isolation, less sensitive of our need for the company of others and therefore less sen-sitive and aware of those same needs in others.

Mother Teresa wrote that

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most ter-rible poverty.” But being less aware of others makes us poor too!

Our current way of living does encourage a state of ‘dis-connectedness’ – superfi cially we don’t need others as we once did, our easy mobility encour-ages us to feel we don’t need to belong to a particular commu-nity, we are not reliant on them for company or entertainment.

We can travel easily, co-cooned in our car, looking out at the world as we pass by.

We can become cocooned from our need for each other; our air-conditioned houses and places of work can isolate us from nature itself, isolated or unaware of our need for God.

Jesus became one of us – from fi rst-hand experience He knows our strengths, our weaknesses, our needs and desires. In Mat-thew’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of these needs in very, very vivid terms.

We will be judged, he said, on how sensitive we are to those needs, how we relate to others, how we care for each other. Je-sus identifi es with the weak, the lonely, the sick, the suffering.

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you wel-comed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ He adds, ‘I tell you, just as you did do it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:31-46.

It is a very timely message. The focus on ourselves, on sat-isfying our own needs and de-sires can trigger a deep loneli-ness.

Jesus message is very clear

- it is in reaching out to oth-ers that we fi nd fulfi lment andhappiness. Happiness does not always come about by satisfy-ing our own needs. Lonelinesscan teach us a very profound, although not always pleasantlesson.

It is in reaching out to others that we fi nd ourselves, that weare at our best, that we expressour real nature, it is in reaching out to others that we fi nd God.

All of us at some time or other will feel the pain of loneliness –it is part of our longing for God. But it can be a good master.

It can teach us to be sensitive to those who are fellow suffer-ers, sensitive to those who feel that they are unwanted and un-welcome.

They wait for someone to come and break into the suffer-ing of their loneliness, the walls around them created by their feelings of being unwelcome, unworthy and inadequate .

They are not always those who are locked away, or aban-doned in a lonely house.

They might well be beside you – in your street, in yourworkplace, in the places wherewe travel, in the places wherewe worship.

Beware of scamBEWARE of a scam which comes in by email, purporting to be from a priest in dire need of money because of some cir-cumstance which has occurred while overseas.

We get them from time to time in this offi ce but it has been drawn to attention by a reader that she has received an email supposedly from a priest who used to be in this diocese asking for money.

She forwarded some money and was attempting to abort the transfer after her husband alerted her to the likelihood of a scam.

In this case it appears that a scammer had gained access to the priest’s contact list, so if you get a request such as this ignore it.

Under the starsOUR bishop was been inter-viewed for at offi cial World Youth Day website because he was deemed to be one of a handful of bishops who chose to sleep out with pilgrims rath-er than sleep in comfort of a hotel room.

The bishop weathered the storm with our Sale Diocese pilgrims but managed only 3-4 hours sleep.

Ah, yes, autoPRIEST purchase a new shred-der for his offi ce after his old one stopped working.

New one didn’t work either but then he discovered that the choice of settings was reverse,

off and auto. In other words the shredder did not run unless a piece of paper was inserted in it.

For some reason, when the old one was turned on it would run continually, which he thought was normal, but had corrected itself which led him to think it was broken.

The priest now has two shredders, both working per-fectly in auto mode.

Junk is valuedWE have just had hard rubbish collections in the Sale area and it is interesting to see the op-portunists who scrounge the items dumped on nature strips.

Judging by the number of tel-evisions and computer screens outside some houses, they must go around town collect-ing them, check whether they work, and if not, dump them outside.

Old computers are often just raided for their hard drives or memory chips, then tossed out again.

Scrap metal must be com-manding good prices at the moment, judging by the num-ber of people we saw just col-lecting anything made out of steel or aluminium.

LEADING THE WAY IN PRINTING THROUGHOUT

GIPPSLAND

Gippsland’s specialist in all types of printing

17 Church Street Traralgon P: 03 5174 2348 F: 03 5174 6452

email: rob@lvprinters.com.auwww.lvprinters.com.au

● Graphic Design ● Colour Brochures

● Digital Printing ● Photocopying

MORWELL - Some senior chil-dren from Sacred Heart Primary School in Morwell have joined a knitting club.

The students of the knitting club with the great support of the school and parish community have completed 50 blankets for the Save the Children - Born to Knit campaign.

As well as the enjoyment and satisfaction of learning a new skill and completing an item, the children have given their time to help other children who are not quite as privileged as they are.

These blankets will be distrib-uted to new born babies in Ma-laysia.

The social interaction between the children and the adults in-volved in the knitting sessions is very positive and has ensured that the knitting club will con-tinue to meet and create items for other worthwhile causes.

Children knit to save lives

WRAPPED in their warm rugs are the senior children from SacredHeart Primary with their knitting instructors Mrs Sertori and Mrs Tumney.

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 5

Priest onextendedleave

Stephen Baggs Funeral Directors Talk to us about our at-need, pre-paid or pre-arranged funeral services.

613 MAIN STREET BAIRNSDALE Call 24 hours on 5153 2150 or visit us at www.stephenbaggs.com.au

In2Pets & Aquariums

Phone 5176 4290

Full range ofaccessories

for all your pet needs

325 Princes Hwy, Traralgon East

Aid to the Church in Need …. a Catholic charity dependent on the Holy See, providing pastoral relief to needy and oppressed Churches

Cat

holic

Lif

e

FR Jacob Thadathil has been placed on administrative leave for an unspecifi ed period of time.

A statement from Bishop Prowse advising Foster and Yarram parishioners was read at Masses on the weekend of October 1-2 by Fr Michael Wil-lemsen.

Bishop Prowse said Fr Thadathil had been placed on leave so he could attend totally to some personal issues in his life.

He invited parishioners to join him in praying for Fr Thadathil in the time ahead.

Vicar-general Fr Peter Slater was last week appointed ad-ministrator pro-tem of the two parishes and weekend Masses will be celebrated by Traralgon assistant priest Fr Mathew Kan-nalayil.

I do not feartomorrow for I have

seen today

SALE Diocese has a new voca-tions director.

Fr Darek Jablonski’s appoint-ment was announced last week by Bishop Christopher Prowse.

Fr Jablonski, assistant priest at Cranbourne, is our most newly ordained priest and is ex-tremely popular with younger people.

He replaces Deacon Tony As-pinall who has held the position for about 18 months.

Fr Jablonski has also been ap-pointed youth chaplain for the diocese.

SR Margaret Brown RSJ, pas-toral assistant at Yarram, has been appointed Vicar for Reli-gious for Sale Diocese.

She replaces Sr Doreen Dagge RSJ who has taken up an appointment in Western Australia.

Vocationsdirectorannounced

New vicar forreligious inSale Diocese

Family Foundation gives $98,200THE Bishop’s Family Founda-tion has allocated $98,200 to charities supporting families in Gippsland and the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

Largest recipient is Centac-are Gippsland which received $60,000 for three major pro-jects.

Centacare Gippsland received funding for two ROCASS pro-grams, one serving the Maf-fra, Heyfi eld and Rosedale ar-eas, and the other servicing the Bairnsdale and East Gippsland area.

The programs will provide a fl exible model of counselling support for individuals, cou-ples, families and groups.

It also received funding for counselling services in the War-ragul and Pakenham areas.

Centacare requested funding of $92,000 for its three projects indicating the level of need in the community.

It’s allocation is double what it received last year from the Bishop’s Family Foundation and is partially in response to a reduction in funding from gov-ernment sources. The founda-tion funded 11 projects out of 20 which applied for funding from the annual disbursements.

The disbursements bring the total amount given to charities running programs for families to $775,000.

All the money has come from interest earned on investment of

donated funds which have all been retained by the founda-tion.

The successful applicants: Centacare Gippsland, CENCO and ROCASS programs across Gippsland, $60,000; Gippsland Uniting Care, Sale, activity

program, $2400; Good Begin-nings Australia, Moe, educa-tion discussion groups, $3000; Interchange Gippsland, Moe, volunteer recruitment, $4000; St Vincent de Paul, Berwick, upgrade to soup van freezer, $3000; St Vincent de Paul,

educational expenses, $8000; St Vincent de Paul, Pakenham, back to school expenses and fuel vouchers, $3800; St Vin-cent de Paul, Newborough, tertiary education sponsorship, $9000.

BERWICK - Students from St. Michael’s Catholic Primary School in Berwick have em-braced the opportunity to run in a “joggers club”.

A number of students elect to push their limits and run extra laps each time they attend the non-compulsory, before school, running program which has provided a chance for the stu-dents to increase their running strength and fi tness.

Collectively, this group has run a total of 9668 laps of the school’s oval which equates to the equivalent of running a re-lay from Berwick to Nambucca Heads in New South Wales.

The volunteer parents, who attend each week to assist with the program, expressed their happiness to work with such an enthusiastic group of children.

Physical Education teacher, Karen Hughes commented “how proud she is of all the stu-dents because they are having fun and also having a go”.

Encouraging fi tness and fun

ST Michael’s students running on the school’s impressive synthet-ic track.

Page 6 - Catholic Life, October 2011

Changing education: New wine, old wine skinsTalking

CatholicEducation

withPeterRyan

EARLIER this year, I was driv-ing through northern Victo-ria, amazed to see hundreds of acres of farmland growing rows and rows of wine grapes.

It was extraordinary to think that just a few years ago, all these acres would have been under sheep and cereal crops.

What a huge decision it is for a property owner to make such a change! It involves learning new knowledge and skills, pur-chasing expensive new equip-ment, developing new market-ing strategies and networks.

It would also be a challenge, I am sure, to let go of the old, into which much time and ef-fort, perhaps even generations of family tradition, have been invested.

It would mean letting go of substantial fi nancial investment, in sheds, equipment, transport, yards, etc. that would no longer be needed. Indeed, much of that investment might now be sitting idle on those properties.

Then it would mean spending many dollars investing in new infrastructure. Even more dra-matically for the farmer, such a radical change may involve the heart-breaking decision to sell a property that had been in the family for generations.

A new crop, in a new mar-

ket, requires radically different forms of infrastructure as the owner embarks on what is es-sentially a fundamentally dif-ferent task. It is a case of new wine needing new wine skins. The old wine skins would not work. (Mt 9:17)

On further thought, it struck me that school systems are very much like that. As the years have unfolded, things have changed in fundamental ways.

Society has expected very dif-ferent things from its schools. Yet, for all those changes, school systems still look very much the same as they did dec-ades ago. There is new wine, so to speak, but the wineskins are old.

Quite recently, I came across a book by American academic, Clayton Christensen, called Disrupting Class. (New York, McGraw Hill, 2008). Despite what the title might suggest, it is not a book about naughty children!

Rather, it is a book that sug-gests that, as the function of the school system has changed over time, the way that system works must be disrupted to enable it to meet its new challenges.

This disruption is very simi-lar to the disruption the farmer would experience as he or she moves from wool and fat lamb production to wine, for exam-ple.

Now, while this book address-es the American public school context and, in fact, admits to making some broad generalisa-tions that mask important de-tails and exceptions, there are clear parallels to be found here in Australia.

In brief, Christensen argues that school systems and schools themselves have been extraor-dinarily successful in devel-oping to meet the constantly changing demands that society places on them.

He suggests that, “schools have been required to do the equivalent of rebuilding an air-plane (sic) in mid fl ight.” He ar-gues that, in private enterprise, if dramatic changes in purpose were required, as he demon-strates they were in the USA over the past 200 or so years, entirely new businesses would have to be created.

That is because existing struc-tures fi nd it very diffi cult to make radical changes to them-selves. However, he points out that schools and systems have managed to do that quite often and to do it successfully.

A similar argument can be

mounted here in Australia. In early colonial times, schools were established to “tame” chil-dren, to build an orderly socie-ty, conscious that its roots were actually in a convict society.

Schools were small and very few went beyond the early years of primary school. Edu-cation was an option available to relatively few.

As our nation grew through the 19th and into the 20th centuries, society made ever changing demands; the goal posts kept moving and schools moved successfully to line up those new goal positions.

The later years of the 19th century, saw the Education Acts, which made schooling “Free, Compulsory and Secu-lar” – all three resulting in a completely different approach to school education and a very much wider clientele.

Structurally, it also led to the establishment of our Catholic schools – but that is a different part of the story. The Education Acts changed the goal posts. School systems were disrupted. They had to change the way they worked.

Over time we have moved from “taming” youngsters, to making them active contribu-tors to society and the economy. More and more people needed access to secondary school, though it was certainly not for everyone.

When the school leaving age was 14, I remember a signifi -cant number of pupils in my own primary and secondary classes of the late 1950s and early 1960s who were very clearly just fi lling in time and taking up classroom space until they turned 14 and could leave to get a job.

In those days, many of them still managed to make real suc-cesses of their lives.

Even those of us who stayed into secondary school at that time were offered a very narrow curriculum.

In the Catholic boys’ sec-ondary school I attended in the 1960s, I had a choice of either maths-science or humanities. That was all! Two choices!

Some who were considered less academic had the option of “tech schools” where choices were basically woodwork or metalwork. How different to-day! Society’s expectations have changed dramatically. The goal posts moved again.

A look at our VELS frame-work shows how broad is the learning offered in schools and, to look at the list of options available in the senior years of our secondary schools, is quite mind boggling.

One more set of goal posts was added, particularly during the 20th century. Schools be-came the means by which peo-ple were sorted into different

social classes. One set of results from one

set of schools ensured that there were plenty of people to take on the low paid, less desirable roles in the workforce and in society.

A different set ensured that there were people to take the roles of doctors and lawyers, as members of a “higher” class. Of course, there were and still are exceptions, but the barriers remain very high.

Another way of looking at this “sorting” role carried by school systems, is to realise that it did not much matter, at that time, if a pupil “failed” at school (that is fi lled in time to leave on the 14th birthday!).

In fact, society needed such “failures” to fi ll its lower order roles. School systems today still carry some of that “social sorting” function in our society.

Now, though, emphasis is changing again. Now, it is ex-pected that every child will have the opportunity to fulfi l his or her potential. That was certainly not language I heard when I was a student at school.

“Failure” at school is not an option any more. Now, parents scan web sites and interview principals to fi nd the “right” school for their child.

Schools are pushed into com-petition with one another and that competition is promoted and facilitated by such govern-ment initiatives as national test-ing and the MySchool website.

We have new wine that needs a new wine skin. But the way our school systems are struc-tured look is the same as it was fi fty or more years ago.

Through all these changes, it was not as though schools stopped meeting one set of ex-pectations while they “tooled up” to meet another.

Rather, these new expecta-tions were accepted as addi-tional to those already existing. It was as though school systems were kicking for two or even more sets of goal posts at the same time – and were expected to score on them all.

Schools have always dealt with moving goal posts, and will continue to deal with them. But it does require new ap-proaches, new systemic struc-tures.

Teachers in schools are mak-ing amazing efforts to meet those changing goals. Some are fl ying; some are fl oundering.

But an outmoded system struc-ture so often gets in the way. Itremains a constant challenge tous all.

The traditional way that ourschool system is structured, a structure that we have inherited from previous days when the goals were different, will just not do it anymore.

We still have a school sys-tem today built on a “cagesfor ages” approach, one that sees pupils move through the school according to age, rather than through interest or level ofknowledge.

It is a system that requires children to go to the nearest school, regardless of what it of-fers. It is a system that requiresteachers to teach the same thing in the same way at the sametime to a whole block of pupilswho happen to have been bornin about the same year and live in about the same vicinity.

While primary schools have greater fl exibility and many are doing great work moving to create the necessary new structures, even within what isessentially a restrictive system,it is much more diffi cult in thesecondary school.

There, despite extraordinaryefforts to broaden the curricu-lum, the system places much greater restriction.

Yet, as young people maturein secondary schools, their needs and interests tend to be far more differentiated thanthose of primary children. But it is in secondary schools that the “cages for ages” is most evident.

I suggest that there needs tobe a disruption to our schoolingsystem just as there has been a disruption to those old sheep properties with which we be-gan. We need to fi nd new wineskins for our new wine.

This column raises a questionrather than suggests an answer.What that answer looks like is yet to be determined.

Christensen believes that theanswer lies in technology. He may well be right.

I have every confi dence thatthe answer will come from the commitment and creativity of teachers and schools. But by then the goal posts may have shifted again. I wonder what our new wineskins will looklike then.

There are similar issues with changing goal posts in the realm of religious education, too, but that will have to wait until next month.

Col & Pal SemmensFUNERAL DIRECTORS

~Servicing Gippsland~Maffra 5147 1954Sale 5144 1954Heyfield 5148 3354

Our Family Caring For Your Family With 25 Years ExperienceBrad Pal Col

O’MaraHouse

Aged Facility

• 50 Private rooms• Private ensuites• 24 hours care• Respite• Private chapel• Bus service to door• Own bus for

outings• Tranquil centre

courtyard• Aviaries• Sunny courtyards• Medical practitioners

visit• Pathology visit

Owned and operated bySt Vincent de PaulHunter RdTraralgon 3844Phone (03) 5174 4628

Owned and operated by Ray and Maree AndersonWith care & dignity we serve

South Gippsland and Phillip IslandMain offi ce:WONTHAGGI/INVERLOCH 5672 1074176-178 Graham St., Wonthaggi 3995 Fax 5672 1747PHILLIP ISLAND 5952 517115 Warley Av., Cowes 3933 (by appointment only)

Email: randm33@bigpond.net.auPre-paid & pre-arranged funeral plans available

CARING & PERSONAL 24 HOUR SERVICEMember of Australian Funeral Directors Association

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 7

DOLLAR$&

SENSEwith David Wells

Superannuation – many ways to wrap the assets!I OFTEN have discussions with investors and clients who are worried about their assets in su-perannuation.

In times like these there are more discussions, and in many cases, more worry, too. These discussions are interesting, where investors sometimes blame the managers for vola-tility and sometimes blame the assets for the same, and some-times the structure. Yet in any case it would be a combination of all three.

There is never a perfect an-swer to any investment ques-tion. Because we deal with the future all the time we can make educated forecasts, and get them right about as often as the weather bureau does.

Growth assets are business and property. Any other growth asset will be a variation on this – either property trusts or shares or derivatives of these.

Then we have the conserva-tive investments – fi xed inter-est and fi xed interest equity investments such as Converting Notes and Preference Shares. These are Stock Exchange list-ed investments that either pay interest (Converting Notes) or dividends (Preference Shares). Term Deposits at banks and Credit Unions would fall into this category. “Secured Invest-ments” through solicitors and similar companies are a mort-gage based fi xed interest invest-ment.

These investments will pay

a rate of return, but will never expect them to grow your capi-tal. By nature their capital value is stable and you will need to equate their return with your tax rate and infl ation to deter-mine what return you’re really getting.

The more growth assets you have, the more your portfolio will grow over time but you will experience a far greater degree of volatility. Investors currently will be wondering about the length of time but the volatility is self evident, even with resi-dential real estate. Usually in a super fund we try to have some of both classes of assets to re-duce the volatility and underpin reliability of returns.

We also have what we call alternative investments – cur-rency funds (foreign exchange), hedge funds and the like. These will use options, collaterised debt securities and credit swaps and other synthetic investments to attempt to guarantee a re-turn whatever happen in their markets. Some alternative asset funds have a capital guarantee should an investor maintain their investment for a agreed

length of time. This can be done by investing most of the capital in a fi xed interest investment and leveraging the rest in high-ly aggressive products to try to maximise growth. Some man-agers do it better than others!

However, in superannuation, the management is all impor-tant. Large retail funds (AMP, Colonial etc) will be using all manner of investments depend-ing on the investor choices (bal-anced, growth, conservative etc). For this they obviously charge a fee and use investment managers. Industry superan-nuation funds also use the same investments. They also charge a fee and in some cases higher costs of investing which you don’t see. And yet, nearly all the same investments are avail-able to the individual investor, usually for a lower fee and quite often a lower investment cost and smaller ongoing costs, too.

Some clients who run their own funds or have them run through investment advisers are looking to go into industry funds to reduce volatility. Some want to go to major retail funds to do the same. Some members

of retail funds want to move to self managed funds. It’s a case of “the grass is greener some-where, anywhere, else”.

The reality of the situation is that where you have a choice of investments – and that’s great-est in a self managed fund – it’s the investments that you choose that determines your returns and volatility. It’s not how you wrap the assets that’s impor-tant, but the assets that you’re wrapping.

Choose the options that will let you sleep at night but

will still get you to where you want to go. If you’re looking atchanging your superannuation structure, take a look at whatinvestments you have in the oneyou’ve got and see if there’s abetter choice of investment.

• This report is intended to provide generaladvice. In preparing this advice, David Wells and RBS Morgans did not take into account the investment objective, the fi nancial situation and particular needs of any particular person.Before making an investment decision on thebasis of this advice, you need to consider, withor without the assistance of an adviser, whether the advice is appropriate in light of your particu-lar investment needs, objectives and fi nancial circumstances.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Personal Accident Insurance ONLY $32 per year.*

‘Cos kids will be kids.

As we all know, kids will be kids and accidents unfortunately happen. Our personal accident insurance covers children 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, anywhere in Australia or overseas, wherever they may be – at home, school, even on the sports field.

Benefits include:

Loss or damage to teeth $250* Benefit limited to $1,000 per accident

Full capping of damaged teeth $250*

Broken/fractured/dislocated arm or wrist $500*

Third degree burns $5,000*

Emergency transport $1,000* Benefit limited to $1,000 per accident

For the full list of benefits*, see the product disclosure statement available from us.

Call 1300 655 003 or visit www.kidswillbekids.com.au

* $32 per kid, per year inclusive of GST and statutory charges. Prices based on a policy with one insured person. This Insurance is underwritten by Allianz Australia Insurance Limited (Allianz) ABN 15 000 122 850 AFS Licence No. 234708 and is arranged by Catholic Church Insurances Limited ABN 76 000 005 210 AFSL 235415, 485 La Trobe Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, as a promoter for Allianz. A Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for insurance products can be requested by calling 1300 655 003; or online from www.catholicinsurances.com.au. Any advice here does not take into consideration your ob ectives, nancial situation or needs, which you should consider before acting on any recommendations. You should read and consider the PDS before deciding whether to acquire any products mentioned. If you purchase this insurance, Catholic Church Insurances will receive commission on these insurance products as a percentage of the premium paid for each policy. Ask us for more details before we provide you with any services on these products. CCI0048

per tooth

per accident

per tooth

Page 8 - Catholic Life, October 2011

New Offi cer SFX campus is under way

Reflect On Your Life

A CDF Pre-Paid Funeral plan allows you to arrange and pay for your funeral inadvance 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 specificallyfor South Eastern Victoria.

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

Organise and pay for your CDF Pre-Paid Funeral through anyparticipating funeral director within Gippsland, Mornington Peninsula and

outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

For more information contact:

CDF Pre-Paid FuneralsPO Box 508Sale 3853

Phone 5144 4311Email: cdf@sale.catholic.org.au

By Maree Chapman

OFFICER - St Francis Xavier College reached an exciting milestone in the college’s histo-ry when Bishop of Sale, Chris-topher Prowse offi cially turned the fi rst sod on the land for the construction of the college’s new campus in Offi cer.

The new junior campus will open in 2012 and is located on the northern side of the Princes Highway and Cardinia Road intersection, bordered by Ma-jestic Drive and Grandview Boulevard.

The new campus will answer the need for a Catholic sec-ondary college to cater for the growth in the Beaconsfi eld /Pa-kenham area and will be more easily accessible than the cur-rent Berwick campus for stu-dents living in the areas of Pa-kenham, Offi cer, Beaconsfi eld and Koo Wee Rup .

Construction of stage one of the new campus is currently due to begin by Devco Project and Constructions. The founda-tion Year 7 students of the Of-fi cer campus will be based at the Beaconsfi eld campus until they move to their new site mid 2012.

The fi rst intake of students in 2012 at the Offi cer campus will cater for an anticipated 150 students in Year 7 and over the next three years enrolments will expand to include Years 8 and 9 to replicate the college’s current Berwick campus mod-el. Students in years 10, 11 and 12 will continue to attend the St Francis Xavier senior campus in Beaconsfi eld.

College deputy principal Margaret Blythman will be the fi rst head of the Offi cer campus. Mrs Blythman has held vari-ous positions of leadership in her nine years at the St Francis Xavier College and is currently director of learning and VCE .

The Offi cer campus will be further facilitated by the new railway site at Lakeside which is rapidly approaching con-

struction and the installation of traffi c lights at the Princes highway and Cardinia Rd inter-section.

This will be the third new de-velopment born from the origi-nal Beaconsfi eld campus after St Peter’s College, Cranbourne, and the junior campus in Ber-

wick. A second Catholic primary

school for St Patrick’s Parish, Pakenham, will also be includ-ed in the new development and is to be situated on the adjoin-ing site with a projected open-ing for 2014.

St Francis Xavier college has

witnessed an incredible growth story in the 33 years since its establishment when it began with 72 students and has grown to a projected student popula-tion of over 2000 students in 2012.

BISHOP Christopher Prowse ceremonially turns the fi rst sod at the site of the new Offi cer campus of St Francis Xavier College, watched by (from left) college vice captains Lucan Macreadie and Cassie Gawley, head of Offi cer campus Margaret Blythman, college principal Paul Desmond, Pakenham parish priest Fr Bernard Mahoney, college captains Michaela Foy and Bradley Abela.

SEMINARIAN Tao Pham is showing good signs of recover-ing from septicaemia which has led to him spending months in intensive care.

He is looking much improved and while still in hospital as he recovers, he is now able to speak again.

He was interested to have the last Catholic Life read to him, particularly the pages about World Youth Day and the up-date on his health.

Tao wished to thank the bish-op, priests, religious and eve-ryone in the diocese for their prayers and support.

He said “Tell everyone I am surviving in St Vincent’s but still in need of more prayers and support, and I hope to be in good health soon but it is tak-ing a long time and everyone’s prayers and support is appreci-ated. Please keep praying for me.”

Tao also said he was very hap-py all the WYD pilgrims came back from Madrid after having wonderful experiences. He was disappointed he was unable to go but hopes to attend the next WYD with the young people in the diocese.

Although still in hospital he has been going step by step in faith and following their activi-ties and pilgrimage.

Seminarianon slowmend inhospital

Give some depth to your advertising

dollar!We are the only newspaper

other than metropolitan dailies to deliver from the outer eastern

suburbs, through Gippslandto the NSW border.

With more than 15,000 copies read in homes each issue that

represents real marketpenetration.

Bishop urges everyone to bepart of his ad limina visitAS Bishop Prowse attends his fi rst ad limina visit to the Vati-can since becoming Bishop of Sale, he has asked the dioc-esan community to become in-volved.

Vatican instructions make it plain to bishops that the best preparation is spiritual.

The instructions says each

bishop will “undoubtedly sense the need to involve the entire diocesan community in refl ec-tion and prayer” on behalf of the action he is to perform in the good of the Church.

Bishop Prowse has asked people to pray with him and each other that the ad limina visit will be fruitful and spiritu-ally enlivening for the Church, both locally and universally.

There are two basic purposes prescribed for an ad limina visit and these are to venerate the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and to meet with the Suc-cessor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome (Pope).

Bishop Prowse said pilgrim-ages to the tombs had been practised from the earliest Christian times and they con-tinued to hold deep spiritual meaning and signifi cance for Church communion.

It was for this reason that these practices were institution-alised for bishops.

The pilgrimage and venera-tion of the tombs express the unity of the Church, founded by the Lord on the Apostles and built upon by Peter, their head, with Jesus as the chief corner-stone, together with His gospel of salvation for all people.

He said the meeting with the Pope served to consolidate uni-ty in the same faith, hope and charity.

It also allowed the immense heritage of spiritual and moral

values that the whole Church, in communion with the Bishop of Rome, had spread throughout the world, to be better knownand appreciated.

Bishop Prowse said an ad limina visit was also a sign of communion between the partic-ular Churches that made up the Church in Australia today and the Apostolic See.

This could be best done by an exchange of information and a mutual sharing of pastoral ex-periences, initiatives and plansfor working and living.

He said there was value ingroup discussions in which each bishop could share in the spirit of collegiality, strength-ening bonds of unity and instru-ments of service.

This could be achieved through visits to the various Vatican congregations and other organisations, which in various ways were responsible for serving the Church and its mission.

Bishop said there was alsothe private meeting with thePope which fostered a completeopenness and aimed to enlight-en the consciousness of bish-ops regarding their duty to an-nounce the Gospel everywhere.

He said the ad limina helped remind us that while the Church in Australia was young and vi-brant, it was also deeply a partof the rich history, apostolic tra-dition and loving leadership ofthe universal Church.

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 9

FFaith ... Learning ... Growth

By Regina T Abraham

NARRE WARREN – Septem-ber 11 was a day that the whole world remembered for the sad events that changed our way of life a decade ago.

In a spirit of love and unity, the Diocese of Sale came to-gether on this day, for the sec-ond time to celebrate Migrant and Refugee Sunday with the theme “One Human Family”.

The host parish this year was Our Lady Help of Christians, Narre Warren.

People from all the far reach-ing parts of the docese attended the Mass and it was a colorful event with many nationalities of the world represented by their fl ags, national costumes, languages and cuisine.

The ceremony began with a

procession of the people hold-ing the fl ags of many countries. They made a guard of honor for the Bishop, 10 priests and two deacons both at the start and the end of Mass.

The readings for the Mass and the prayers of the faithful were chosen from the countries of East Timor, Pakistan, Nige-ria, Sudan, India, Indonesia and Poland giving preference to the countries that did not get a chance to pray in their language last year.

The Islander community brought in the lectionary with traditional dance and music just before the Liturgy of the Word. As children of one Father, the Our Father was recited by all in their own native language.

In his homily Bishop Prowse, mentioned that we are all Mi-

grants in one way or other and we have a so much color and culture in Australia because of what we bring from our own countries.

He compared it to having va-riety in our cuisine, rather than just meat and three vegetables.

On a more serious note Bish-op Prowse said the Catholic Church did not want to restrict anyone who was genuine in seeking asylum in Australia.

He also mentioned that we enjoy religious freedom in Aus-tralia, which was not the case in the many countries that were represented at the Mass.

Bishop Prowse’s words were echoed in the Pakistani prayer of the faithful, who prayed to the Father of all, that the peo-ple in Pakistan too may be free from persecution for the prac-tise of their faith.

Bishop Prowse also spoke of his amazing experience with the Youth of the World at Ma-drid and how their faith and commitment to the Catholic Church were an inspiration.

He acknowledged the rich-ness of faith brought into the Australian Catholic Church by the Migrant Community.

The Migrant Sunday Mass, according to the theme of “One Human Family” had a spirit of oneness and love among the People of God.

Cr Amanda Stapledon of Ca-sey Council was a guest at this celebration and was happy to have been invited to the Mass at a Catholic Church. She was

very impressed by the fellow-ship at afternoon tea later.

My experience always has been that at any of the Lord’s parties, there is always an abun-dance of generosity in serving the Lord, loads of food and fel-lowship.

The day was a success with detailed planning and coordi-nation by Fr Brendan Hogan and his parish team, Fr Jacob Thadathil and a planning com-mittee from the fi rst Migrant and Refugee Sunday and dioc-esan liturgy coordinator Sophy

Morley. One could see true Christian

fellowship with people of all nations as one family in Christ.In the words of St Paul, “There is one body and one Spirit, one hope; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father ofall…”

In the coming years we hope this celebration of our rich and varied culture will be a colorfulannual event to look forward to within the Diocese of Sale. The next year’s host parish will beSt Agatha’s, Cranbourne.

One human family at Migrant and Refugee Mass

WEARING garlands of fl owers during the Mass are Fr Brendan Hogan. Narre Warren (left) and Fr Denis O’Bryan, Cranbourne.

PROUD of their varied ethnic heritage and showing it are this group who attended the Migrant and Refugee Sunday Mass at Narre Warren.

Page 10 - Catholic Life, October 2011

Prison trends are disturbing - BishopPRISONS and the justice sys-tem in Australia were the fo-cus of this year’s Social Justice Statement issued by the Aus-tralian Catholic Bishop’s Con-ference.

Bishop Christopher Prowse launched the statement “Build-ing bridges, not walls” at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sale, on Oc-tober 2.

He said it was important for people to realise the disturbing increase in the number of Aus-tralians behind bars.

Between 1984 and 2008, the number of Australians in prison per 100 people had almost dou-bled, yet during that time rates of crime were either steady or fell.

Bishop Prowse said it seemed

that increasing numbers were on remand, had been refused bail or were unable to raise the bail.

The slowness of the criminal justice system in bringing mat-ters to court was also a major problem.

He said that of increasing concern was the increased im-prisonment rates for indigenous people.

In 1991 they made up 14 per-cent of the prison population but by 2008 they made up about 25 percent, which was 17 times the non-indigenous rate of im-prisonment.

“Is simply placing disadvan-taged groups in prison really addressing the real issues, espe-cially regarding our fi rst Aus-

tralians?”Bishop Prowse referred to

Catholic social teaching and said prisons ought to be ani-mated, not simply a punitive philosophy to offenders, but also tempered by the mercy ex-pressed in a restorative philoso-phy in corrections.

This could best take place by increasing programs for intervention that built alterna-tive bridges and not just prison walls.

He said so many people with mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction ended up in prison when early intervention might have helped to restore the person to health. Prisons could not really help such sufferers.

Bishop Prowse said Gipps-

land was well served by dedi-cated chaplains to Fulham Correctional Centre near Sale which was the state’s second largest prison.

Wonderful locals from ecu-menical groups and mainline Christian churches regularly committed themselves to visit-ing the inmates.

He said these people provid-ed the hope to dispel the despair that could easily overwhelm those in prison.

“We thank them for their commitment to this vital need. They help build bridges, espe-cially when the inmates fi nally leave prison looking for a future that supports the dignity they carry as fellow human beings.”

Pentecostheraldsyear ofgraceBy Ann TaylorPENTECOST Sunday 2012, begins a year-long Australia- wide initiative entitled ‘A Year of Grace - Starting Afresh from Christ’.

This initiative comes from the Australian Bishop’s Con-ference as an invitation for the Catholic Church in Australia to undertake a spiritual journey.

Despite its wordy title, the invitation is a simple one: let’s spend a year focussing on knowing Jesus Christ. In all that we currently do, let’s take some time to refl ect on the questions ‘What’s this got to do with Je-sus?’ and ‘Who is Jesus for me?’

Australia has recently experi-enced two great graces in World Youth day and the canonisation of St Mary of the Cross MacK-illop. In order to build on this, a Year of Grace was born.

2012 seems an opportune time to embark on this initiative as this year also marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council.

Just like Vatican II, we need to be open to God acting in our future, while at the same time, doing something ourselves to combat the challenges of our society.

Next year will be a busy one for our diocese with many things happening including the administrative move to War-ragul, the restoration of St Mary’s Cathedral and the for-mulation and implementation of Diocesan Pastoral Priorities.

The initiatives which will be suggested for a Year of Grace are not something more to be added to the overall busyness, but a way to focus on what Je-sus has to do with all of this and the opportunity to see his face in and through our daily lives.

A Year of Grace is not a pro-gram but an invitation to re-fl ection and contemplation in a variety of different ways and through different experiences.

Much of the planning is still in its early stages but focussing on the Word of God, prayer and sharing in the Eucharist will be integral, as will the concept of ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’. We will be offered the chance to get to know Jesus rather than only knowing about him.

Over the next few months, a clearer picture will emerge but the ultimate result will depend on us. How open are we in get-ting to know the face of Jesus?

Stewardship a way to show gratitudeBy Barbara Durand

FIVE people from the Sale Dio-cese were among the 40 partici-pants attending the Stewardship Institute 2011, hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat and Australian Catholic Uni-versity.

They were Liz Mitchelson, Lakes Entrance, Sr Madeleine White, Orbost, Joan Robertson, Warragul, Barbara Durand, Drouin, and diocesan pastoral coordinator Sophy Morley.

The guest presenters for the two-day Institute were Ed and April Laughlin from Florida USA, who have intentionally lived a stewardship way of life for over 30 years while raising fi ve children and being actively involved in a wide variety of parish activities.

For more than 25 years the Laughlins, as a couple, as a family and as individuals have brought the stewardship mes-sage to over 500 parishes in more than 60 dioceses across almost 40 states in North Amer-ica and three foreign countries.

In November 1992, the Bish-ops of the United States is-sued a pastoral letter called “Stewardship: A Disciple’s Re-sponse”. In this letter the bish-ops reminded that each person is challenged by the Lord to be good stewards of our many gifts.

This truly is a challenge in today’s society which glorifi es a culture of consumerism and materialism. It is also a chal-lenge because stewardship pre-supposes Christian community, and our society has moved to-ward the privatisation and the individualisation of faith and morals.

The Lord has given everyone

free will thus, living as a good steward is a choice each of us must consider.

The message given at the in-stitute was that stewardship is a way of life. The vision of stew-ardship is taken directly from Sacred Scripture. Stewardship acknowledges that we exist in a God-centred creation. The He-brew people of Old Testament times understood this very well.

Throughout his ministry, Je-sus used many parables to illus-trate the themes of God’s gifts and the imperative to be wise stewards of those gifts. Like-wise the Epistles exhort their Christian communities to share what they have with others.

The notion of stewardship has been often misunderstood as parish planned giving, with most parishes associating stew-ardship with Catholic fundrais-ing.

However, stewardship has always been understood as a much broader vision of Chris-tian faith and discipleship, and drawing its inspiration for scripture, presents us with a way of responding to God’s in-vitation to accept and use the gifts that we have been given so abundantly.

It is an understanding that God is the gracious Giver of all that we are, what we own, what skills and talents we have and that it is all gift. Therefore, as grateful people of God, we use those gifts in the building up of God’s kingdom, in works of faith, charity and justice, for the good of others.

It is an attitude of gratitude. Time, talent and treasure are our gifts to God. God did not in-tend that we be the actual own-ers of these gifts, using them mainly for ourselves, or hoard-

ing them, or ignoring them but rather, God’s purpose was that we would be good stewards of these gifts by using them gen-erously and wisely for building up the kingdom of God.

All of us, as Catholics are on a stewardship journey that begins at our Baptism. Stewardship is giving out of love and gratitude, not from obligation or duty. It is the way in which we live out our faith.

Stewardship is not a program but a continuing process. It is a conversion experience and change of heart (metanoia) in which we live as Catholics daily

Jesus’ life and his teachings give meaning to what we un-derstand stewardship to be. A disciple is one who responds to Christ’s call and then shapes her or his life in imitation of

Jesus. The steward receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishesand tends them in a responsiblemanner, shares them in love and justice with others, and returns them with increase to the Lord. The world, our lives, all thatwe are and have, is a gardenentrusted to us. Stewardship isspirituality and a lifestyle. Thekey words in the spiritualityof stewardship are faith, trust,gratitude and love.

The model of stewardship in parishes helps people under-stand that they are gifted, to beable to recognise and identify their gifts and fi nds ways andministries where they can use their gifts.

There are many fruits of stew-ardship in parish life, a sense of community, shared vision,deeper faith commitment, hos-pitality and welcome, contin-ued growth and developmentand evangelisation.

• Barbara Durand is the Pas-toral Associate at St Ita’s ParishDrouin. The pastoral councils of Warragul and Drouin, underthe pastorship of Fr Herman Hengel have begun the pro-cess of exploring the vision ofChristian Stewardship as a wayof strengthening the faith lifeand mission of their parishes.

THE Sale Diocese representatives (from left) Liz Michelson, Sr Madeleine White RSJ, Barbara Durant, Joan Robertson and So-phy Morley.

EVERY year we look closely at the Pope’s World Mission Sunday statement as a communication of hope and inspira-tion.

This year, we are invited by His Ho-liness Pope Benedict XVI’s message to stand in solidarity to help carry out evan-gelising activities in mission territories and support the work of the Universal Church.

“The universal mission involves every-one, everything and always. The Gospel is not an exclusive possession of those who have received it, but it is a gift to be shared, good news to be passed on to others.”

We are also inspired by Pope John Paul II on his visit to Alice Springs in 1986, speaking from his heart to Australia’s in-digenous peoples: “The Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others.”

National Director of Catholic Mission, Martin Teulan said “As Australians in mission we are all encouraged to come together as one in the name of Christ: to share and to listen.”

“Hear My Voice” is our theme for this year’s World Mission Month, where we hear the voices of the world’s indigenous peoples. We celebrate their contribution around the world with their unique cul-tures, languages and spiritual traditions, all enriching our Universal Catholic Faith.

In Australia we look at the remote community of Wadeye in the Northern Territory and we follow Angela, an in-digenous woman, who has just been in-volved with theological studies at Nun-galinya College in Darwin. We share her journey of providing spiritual support to many.

Internationally, we focus on the Par-ish of St Mary Pataxte in Guatemala. We celebrate with a local leader of an Indig-enous community called the Q’eqchi. This is Catechist Pedro Xol Mucul who brings the people together every Sunday for celebration of the Word and Com-munion. In Guatemala the Church is characterised as an indigenous commu-nity led and sustained by laity.

Be inspired on World Mission Sunday, October 23 to Hear My Voice and share your faith with the world!

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 11

World Mission Day Appeal

All over the world Indigenous communities share their faith – our faith. Please give generously in your parish or visit catholicmission.org.auFreecall: 1800 257 296

Here my voice: World Mission Day

FOR the Mayan civilisation fi rst contact with the Conquistadors’ guns, germs and steel began the precipitous slide into dis-possession, persecution, disease and pov-erty.

The brutality of Guatemala’s recent civil war is but the latest chapter in 500 years of exploitation and discrimination visited upon its indigenous people.

The social gulf between the descend-ents of the Spanish and the Mayan is stark.

The former, comprising three per cent of the population live in the cities and own 70 per cent of the productive land. They control the nation’s fi nances, politi-cal institutions and military.

The Mayans’ descendents, the Q’eqchi people by contrast form a numerically superior though much neglected under-class. With little access to education and careers, most are poor subsistence farm-ers eking a living on marginal mountain-ous lands.

The Mayans’ living legacy however is everywhere to see. It is as plain as the aq-uiline nose on Pedro Xol Mucul’s face.

His high cheekbones and his black almond-shaped eyes mirror the Mayan deities carved into the ancient temples. Pedro along with tens of thousands of other lay catechists is the embodiment of the Church in Guatemala.

He is a catechist in the remote village of Chapin Arriba in the parish of St Mary Pataxte, in Izabal Diocese.

“I am a Q’eqchi man,” Pedro says. “My role is primarily as a missionary to an-nounce the Good News to my people. I am an instrument of the Lord to bring others to salvation.”

With fellow ministers Pedro gathers the community together on Sundays for the Celebration of the Word and Holy Communion.

He presides at mid-week services, takes the Eucharist to the sick and dying, and offers prayers of intercession in the tradi-tional Q’eqchi style known as Mayajak.

“In Chapin Arriba a priest will come

to celebrate Mass once a month or six weeks,” Pedro says. “The life of the cat-echist is demanding because you are the presence of the Church for people for all the other days of the year.”

Pedro and his wife Rutilia Cus Caal have four children, aged 5 to 14. They work their own plot of land and grow maize to eat.

Notwithstanding their commitments to the faithful, of necessity the couple hunt out labouring work in the neighboring “fi nca” or plantation, earning about $8 a day.

Catholic Mission fi nancially supports the catechumenal training of Guate-mala’s laity and the supply of teaching materials.

PEDRO is typical of the indigenous la-ity that characterises the Guatemalan Church

Guatemala: Grassroots Church sustained in faith

Learning languages in NTWHEN you think of bilingual schools you might think of countries overseas, in Europe, perhaps, where English is taught as a second language.

You might even think of some exclu-sive and expensive school in Australia. You don’t necessarily think of the Aus-tralian Outback.

Wadeye is a remote town a few hun-dred kilometres away from Darwin at the western edge of the Daly River.

A population just over 2000 people, with seven different languages from 20 different tribes make up the townsfolk.

In fact, Wadeye is the largest Aborigi-nal community in the Northern Terri-tory.

The town itself is totally cut off dur-ing the wet season, and only accessible by sea or air.

Thamarrurr School has a dedicated unit to develop educational resources in the dominant Aboriginal language of the town, Murrinh Patha.

Murrinh Patha is taught to each and every student. It is the predominant lan-guage used in Early Learning Literacy for all students’ right through to year three. English is a language they speak orally until then.

From year four, students can only learn Murrinh Patha in Religion class.

Sr Teresa (Tess) Ward OLSH has been teaching at Thamarrurr School for many

years and says “It is very important forthe students. They have a right to learn in a language that is their own mothertongue.” English, for them, is not a sec-ond language, but a foreign one.

So they begin at school only speakingEnglish, so they can understand it andhave a comprehension of what they aresaying.

Page 12 - Catholic Life, October 2011

BARRY AND ANNETTE LETTFuneral Directors

67 Macarthur St., Sale 3850(03) 5143 1232

Barry, Annette andBradley Lett offer care,compassion and serv-

ice withdignity for the people

of Gippsland. Caring and personal

24-hour service.

Prepaid and prearranged funeral plans available.

Jess Van DiemenIN Madrid the catechesis ses-sions were given by a bishop from a different country each day an also included sing-ing and dancing from various groups.

After catechesis came Mass. It was amazing in Madrid to participate in Mass with 15,000 people, 300 priests and about 40 bishops each day. The main events were held in the evening as the temperature each day was about 40°C which should of given us time in the afternoon for siesta however the were one and a half million people trying to get a good spot close to the events so if you wanted to be anywhere near the events you had to go straight there from catechesis and wait around all day. Even then our group only ever found places where we could see a screen not the ac-tual event. Some of the events included the opening mass, Pa-pal arrival and Stations of the Cross.

There were so many high-lights of WYD, a few that were really amazing are:

On our fi rst full day in Ma-drid the opening Mass was to be held in a big intersec-tion in the middle of the city. We hadn’t realized yet the full amount of people that were in the city for this amazing event so when we arrived at 7pm for a 7.30pm start we were shocked to see the massive crowds. We couldn’t even see the intersec-tion, we could see a screen but there was no sound and every-one was just singing, dancing and mucking around, not really the right atmosphere for a Mass so our group walked back down the road about fi ve minutes and found a open space on the side of the road where Fr Michael Willemsen decided he would say Mass for us.

As I have only ever been to Mass in a church it was an amazing experience to partici-pate in a mass on the side of the road. People walking by joined us and others who were talking and singing with their groups went quiet as they passed us as a sign of respect.

Retiro Park is a big park in the middle of Madrid and this is where the cross and icon were held and where reconciliation took place. When we visited

Retiro Park we were surprised to discover that unlike Sydney where everything was held in big tents, in Madrid the cross and icon and reconciliation was out in the open. For reconcilia-tion there were rows and rows of little shelters for priests and pilgrims to sit at, right next to the road.

Cuatro Vientos is the airfi eld were the vigil and fi nal mass took place. The day that we walked there was the hottest day of the Spanish summer and the residents had been warned by the government to stay at home but one and a half mil-lion pilgrims were sitting out in the sun waiting to see the Pope. There were fi re trucks going round spraying water on eve-ryone. That night there was a storm so instead of sleeping in the heat we slept on the ground in our wet clothes, it got quite cold as we weren’t prepared for the storm.

After Madrid we headed to Navarre in Northern Spain for a few days of quiet retreat be-fore we headed home. While we were there we visited St Francis Xavier’s Castle where he was born and grew up. This was quite special for me and other members of my group as I attended St Francis Xavier Col-lege and we also had a group of students from there with us.

Our fi nal dinner together was a special and sad occasion as we would be returning to our individual lives after spending two weeks of prayer and refl ec-tion together. We were each given another person from our group to give an affi rmation about. It was beautiful to hear the wonderful things said about each person.

Over the trip a few things hap-pened to our group to show that God was with us and looking out for us. When we arrived in Talavera we thought we would be sleeping on classroom fl oors because we didn’t know the school was a boarding school. It was a wonderful surprise to fi nd out that we had beds and bathrooms to share with two or three other people.

As there were so many people in the city the day of the Papal arrival we couldn’t get close to the event and had to watch on screens. This was very disap-pointing because seeing the

Pope was one of the things we were all looking forward to. The day of the vigil we walked out of breakfast to fi nd police lining the street. We were cu-rious so we asked one of them what was happening and he re-plied that the Pope was about to drive past. This was very excit-ing, as he drove past we had a clear view of him from the side of the road and even saw him wave at us!

Part of our journey to Cuatro Vientos included a train ride. When we arrived at the station it was so full we could barely get on the platform and all the trains passing us were so full we could only get one or two people on at a time. Then af-ter about fi ve trains passing us an empty train pulled up so we could all pile on.

I was so inspired by the huge crowds of young people not afraid to show their faith. These days it is very hard to show your faith and not get ridiculed for it and here were one and a half million young people gath-ered to do just that. We have to express what we believe and not be ashamed of it, it is okay to be different, it doesn’t mean you are wrong. I also have come back to Australia with a new group of friends with won-derful experiences that we have shared together.

MADRID WYD2011 REFLECTIONS

Rhonda O’Connor I had the privilege of travel-

ling with my daughter Mea-ghan, Len Cooke (teacher) and nine students from St Francis Xavier College.

The Days in the Diocese in Talavera and Toledo were amaz-ing. Being immersed in the me-dieval towns and surrounded by Spanish culture, spirituality and history was fantastic. We were given a tour of The Toledo Cathedral. It is amazing with paintings and gold on every wall and ceiling. History says it is built around a rock which was the place where Mary ap-peared in the 6th Century!

We then continued to travel by bus to a little village called Talavera for the “Days in the Diocese”. We knew we were staying at a school, but did not know what to expect or if we were sleeping on the fl oor or what we would eat. We were very surprised to be greeted by 40 nuns in full habits and veils, and 250 French pilgrims all cheering and welcoming us! It turned out that we were stay-ing at a girl’s boarding school – we all had beds, showers and fed with wonderful hospitality. We had three wonderful days of crazy site-seeing, fun, meals and communication in three languages. We learned that we share a common faith and sense of fun, as well as an ability to pray together with respect and reverence, even if we don’t re-ally understand all the words. We had a presentation from the nuns about their Order – the

Company of Mary –a teaching order founded by St Jeanne of Lestonac to educate girls.

We also got to visit and walk through a 14th Century castle at Oropesa, part of which was ac-tually built in the 6th century! We fi nished with the Way of the Cross that started at 9.30pm – very hot and crowded. Around 2000 pilgrims and lots of lo-cals made for a very noisy and crowded but amazing experi-ence. We then travelled back to Toledo for the commission-ing mass – there were 15, 000 pilgrims all heading to Madrid for WYD!

We arrived in Madrid at mid-night and found our accommo-dation in the University – right in the heart of the city!

On the fi rst day in Madrid we navigated the underground Metro to attend the Australian Gathering – 4000 Aussies sing-ing, praying, and listening to young people speak about their life and faith, and how we can grow in faith in Australia – it was one BIG party!

We then spent a crazy week fi lled with crowds, noise, street parties, concerts and perfor-mances. Each morning we also attend the big catechesis ses-sions – talks about life and faith given by different Archbishop’s from around the world. They were held in a venue like Rod Laver Arena – with 15,000 peo-ple each day. In the afternoon there were different festivals and concerts to attend.

The really big events were held each evening – the open-ing Mass, the offi cial welcome

of the Pope and the Stations of the Cross.

A wonderful surprise was onemorning at breakfast we heard a rumor that the Pope was driving down our street on the way toa Mass. We came outside andwaited along the street for 30minutes. Then we saw the Popemobile coming down the street and he drove straight past us –about fi ve metres away! It was amazing after three days of not even being able to see him ona screen, and then he was rightin front of us – with no crowds!

The week ended with the walk out to Cuatro Vientos forthe sleep out – it is an airfi eld divided up to accommodatetwo million people. It was re-ally hot – 41 degrees and re-ally crowded. Fire trucks weredriving around spraying us with water to keep us cool. Then thatevening just as the Pope arrivedfor the vigil we were hit with a massive storm – thunder, light-ning and a lot of rain! After30 minutes, the vigil continued and we experienced the feelingof two million people kneel-ing or standing SILENTLY inprayer. The SILENCE in the midst of that amount of people was amazing.

After a cold, wet night we woke to songs, prayer and avery multicultural celebration.The Pope celebrated Mass with us and then announced that the next World Youth Day wouldbe in Rio de Janiero in Brazil in 2013. The Brazilian people went CRAZY - waving fl ags,singing and dancing!

Say to him ‘Jesus, I know that you are the Son ofGod, who has given your life for me. I want to fol-low you faithfully and to be led by your word. You know me and you love me. I place my trust in you and I put my whole life into your hands. I wantyou to be the power that strengthens me and the joy which never leaves me’.

- From the homily Pope Benedict XVI fi nal Mass, World Youth Day, August 21, 2011

More pilgrim refl ections of WYD

BISHOP Christopher Prowse with some of the Sale Diocese pil-grims.

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 13

On the pilgrim’s road to Santiago de Compostela

The Road ItselfTHE road to Santiago snakes its way over the Pyrenees fol-lowing Napoleon’s invasion route.

It traces the original Roman road, sometimes rocky and steep, sometimes paved or cin-dered ... always challenging - to pass silently across the great Meseta by fi elds of drooping sunfl owers and golden stubble.

Through sleepy villages and quiet streets ... leaving be-hind the great cities and their glittering cathedrals ... over mountain passes that nurtured a people who conquered the New World.... slipping through chestnut groves and eucalypt plantations to march trium-phant into Santiago.

The Camino de Santiago is a rich metaphor for life.

On the road, we meet won-derfully warm companions who stay with us for a graced time and then urgency of need moves them further along the way or they take a different path to the one we follow.

We are close for a fragment of time, there is the glint of empathy as we pass... then they are gone. We know in our hearts we will never see them again.

There are moments of grind-ing hardship as well as crystal-

line fl ashes of illumination. There are times when we

confront our own fragility and occasions when we shatter the boundaries of our self imposed limitations.

Any sense of abandonment is replaced with the surety of sur-prising new relationships. And always, always, there is some-one in front to lead the way and someone behind to watch our back.

Santa Maria la BlancaIt was always a deep joy to

arrive at a little village and en-ter the church to pray. There

is a wonderful sense of peace in buildings that ring with the last cadences of the dismissal prayer of Sunday mass.

It is like walking into a holy vacuum, resonant with the prayer life of centuries.

These are sacred places. The sun creates deep pools of shad-ow across the paved fl oors, shafts of light that add grace to ancient statues of the virgin and child or rustic wooden pews.

At Villasirga I visited the church of Santa Maria la Blan-ca (The White Virgin). It is a national monument ... a sig-nifi cant church of the Templar Knights. High and cool, the interior is lit by a glorious rose window.

In an enclosure reserved for the burial of patrons of centu-ries gone by is a small stone statue of Mother and Child.

The body of the child Jesus is long gone ... only a fragment of arm and leg remains. But the sweet face of the virgin is un-touched by the march of time.

There is an innocent but knowing acceptance in her young face, an enigmatic smile that reaches from the corner of her mouth to her downcast eyes.

Perhaps 700 years old, it por-trays such a realistic interpreta-tion of the Incarnation event.

It remains the most beautiful religious image I saw on the Camino.

Most images of Mary are from a much later time and we see her fully clothed in rich be-jewelled fabrics, perhaps carry-ing a kerchief or handbag.

Her face is stylised and stern gazing out from her elevated position with a solemn expres-

sion far too aware of the folly of those gathered for prayer and forgetful of her own maid-enhood.

The gold carved facades, whilst telling the story of salva-tion and the lives of the saints have occluded the joyous sim-plicity of the ancient faith ... ‘a maiden is with child’.

Mike Hansen of Traralgon continues his series on his experiences of the classic walking pilgrimage from France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain which is dedicated to the disciple St James whose remains are believed to have been found there.

THE magnifi cent rose window in the former Templar Knight Church of Santa Maria la Blan-ca in Villasirga, Spain.

THE face of the virgin impressed Mike Hansen on his visit to the church.

BARRY AND ANNETTE LETTFuneral Directors

67 Macarthur St., Sale 3850(03) 5143 1232

Barry, Annette andBradley Lett offer care,compassion and serv-

ice withdignity for the people

of Gippsland. Caring and personal

24-hour service.

Prepaid and prearranged funeral plans available.

Ways to welcome children

WELCOMING the Children was the theme for the state conference of Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults which was held in Ballarat.

Keynote speakers Sr Ursula O’Rourke and Mandy Robin-son provided plenty of ideas and challenges for those who attended, which included 15 people from the Sale Diocese.

Participants were reminded of key areas of the RCIA pro-cess - RCIA is an activity that involves the whole parish com-munity, that the sponsors are chosen by the parish, that there is a need to reread the rite each year prior to beginning each catechumenate journey.

Separate RCIA processes

should be run for children aged 7-12, teenagers, and adults, with the ideal being three teams of catechists who would meet regularly.

There is no RCIA for children as such. Rather the RCIA must be adapted to meet the needs of children of catechetical age.

One model of adapting the RCIA for children aged 7-17 was presented. This model in-volves asking the children seek-ing baptism to attend Children’s Liturgy of the Word during Sunday Mass regularly from the beginning of third term, and dismissing these children at the end of Children’s Liturgy of the Word to receive further instruc-tion accompanied by their par-

ents and catechists. The people who attended the

conference were told that, for children, the Rite of Accept-ance into the Catechumenate and a scrutiny (one scrutiny only is required for children) can be adapted and used during Children’s Liturgy of the Word.

A format for these adapted rites is available on www.cam.org,au/evangelisation, by click-ing on the RCIA link and down-loading a copy of A Parish Ex-perience.

It was suggested that when children of catechetical age seek baptism, the parish fi nds sponsor families for the chil-dren and the parent(s) as neces-sary.

THE group from Sale Diocese at the conference in Ballarat.

Change of presbyteriesKOO WEE RUP - Fr John Allen has now moved from the old Iona presbytery to the more modern Koo Wee Rup presbytery.

The Josephite sisters who previous occupied the pres-bytery have moved to another home in Moody St.

The Iona parish offi ce has been relocated from Iona to St James Church, Nar Nar Goon.

The changes took place last weekend after being in the pipeline for several months after it was decided that it was no longer practical to use the Iona presbytery.

Mass times for Koo Wee Rup and Iona -Maryknoll par-ishes have also changed.

Nar Nar Goon will have a Mass at 6pm every Saturday evening.

At Koo Wee Rup Mass will be at 9.30am Sundays and at Iona at 11am Sundays.

Lang Lang will have Sun-day Masses at 5pm on the 2nd and 4th Sundays.

Maryknoll Masses will be at 5pm on the 3rd and 5th Sun-days.

Weekday Masses will be Tuesday, Koo Wee Rup, 7pm; Wednesday, Maryknoll, 9.30am; Thursday, Koo Wee Rup, 9.30am; Friday, Nar Nar Goon, 9.30am; Saturday, Iona, 9.30am, followed by Holy Hour and sacrament of reconciliation.

Page 14 - Catholic Life, October 2011

Autobiography tells memoirs of Traralgon history

Talking aboutBooks

with Patrick Morgan

GippslandHistory

WHEN ANGELS Cook by Sr Germana Consolaro, pub-lished and distributed by St Pauls, hardback, 303 pages, rrp $34.95.

WHEN it comes to cookbooks there are literally hundreds to choose from, most endorsed by various celebrity chefs all look-ing for a cut of the proceeds.

Sr Germana is virtually un-known in Australia but in Italy, her recipes are famous.

She is one of the country’s best known cooks, famous for 30 years of weekly magazine articles and frequent radio and television appearances.

Her inspiring recipes are for authentic Italian home cooking, the thing that most Italian res-taurants here in Australia strive to achieve.

The recipes are simple with-out the need to go and restock the shelves with a nest of ingre-dients.

The Italian version of this book has sold more than two million copies and has since been translated into 15 other languages.

As a young nun she was as-signed to run cooking classes for young women about to be married and then after these classes became successful she helped to establish a course for engaged couples and a variety of services to help families.

Sr Germana explains that eve-ry dish we prepare should be an expression of our love and care, and confi rmation of how good it is to be together, sitting joy-fully around a table at the most important part of the day.

She also says good food is the opportunity to help others smile and feel loved.

It is a great book, full of great tips for getting the best out of traditional Italian foods.

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS, illustrated by Simon Mendez,

retold by Karen Williamson, published by Candle Books, distributed by Rainbow Books, hardback, 12 pages, rrp $16.95.

WITH Christmas just around the corner, it is time to start looking for inspirational books for youngsters.

This beautifully illustrated book simply retells the birth narrative from the Bible and concludes with an amazing 3D pop-up of the nativity scene, complete with baby Jesus in the manger, visited by the shep-herds and wise men.

Youngsters will love it and I am sure it will have to be read to them over and over.

TWO MINUTE PARABLES, retold by Elena Pasquali and illustrated by Nicola Smee, published by Lion Children’s Books, distributed by Rain-

bow Books, hardback, 46pages, rrp $16.99.

THE parables Jesus spoke con-tain much wisdom.

It was his way of conveying important messages so theycould be remembered.

They had a big impact be-cause they were remembered by the Gospel writers and re-corded so that everyone could share in the wisdom.

The parables featured in this book are pitched at younger readers, perhaps 8-10 years old.

They will be able to under-stand the basic message con-tained in each and will remem-ber the parables when they nexthear them read at Mass.

The illustrations are good and the layout of the parables en-courages youngsters to be inter-ested in the book.

Recipes from nun’s kitchen

WELL-known in Traralgon and the Latrobe Valley identity Grace Youl, has in her late 80s written her autobiography enti-tled A Charmed Life.

I knew her and her son Bryan a little in the 1970s through mu-tual friends.

Her life falls into two parts, fi rstly growing up in Traralgon, marrying and bringing up four sons after the Second World War, and then after her husband Harry’s death from a stroke in 1989, leading a different type of life with plenty of travel and new interests.

Grace Cave was born in 1918, the last year of the First World War; her mother died in the next year during the worldwide in-fl uenza epidemic before Grace was two years old.

She was sent to be brought up by her grandparents, the Jones of Traralgon. Their property Minniedale to the south east of the town has been consumed by the Loy Yang open cut.

In 1940 she married Harry Youl, who came from a dairy farming family from Turton’s Creek deep in the hills of South Gippsland and they settled in Traralgon.

Grace describes their life there from the 1940s onwards as not impoverished but fru-gal and basic - jobs were hard to get, they lived in a Housing Commission house on the out-skirts of the town with very few amenities, the family budget had to be constantly watched.

She writes of those times: “Survival on one salary was

high on the agenda. We wasted nothing, especially food. Every-one had learnt from the Depres-sion and wartime years. A keen vegetable gardener, Harry sup-plemented the shopping. Plum trees go on forever and the pear tree was valuable, although re-tained today just for its shade. We made sauce and pickles, bought cases of fruit for jam, and brewed ginger beer. Using the trusty treadle machine Dad had given me, I made my own dresses, as well as short pants for the young ones. One cut off the legs of Harry’s long trousers and, using patterns, made new pants, lining them with calico bags from the grocer, a tricky business.”

These experiences were pret-ty typical of the time, before life in Australia changed from the 1960s onwards.

To cope, families such as the Youls became self-starters, not relying on others or dependent on governments, hard working, respectable, community mind-ed, and in the long run able to improve their position.

A feature of her life is the immense number of people she and her family know as long-term friends - neighbours, relatives, fellow members of the local community, and ac-quaintances met on holidays in Australia and overseas, whom Grace has kept up contact with.

This group constitutes a natu-ral community which shapes its members lives and gives them context and meaning. To-day people have to consciously and artifi cially construct what

they call ‘networks’ to replicate what used to happen naturally.

Grace through necessity be-came a Jack or rather Jill of all trades: mother, typist, secretary, teacher, committee member, graduate, traveller and now author. She comes across as a woman of great energy, deter-mination and focus.

Her four sons and her grand-children, naturally curious and wanting to live a full life, are high achievers, having com-pleted university courses and moved into the professions.

Two were engineers, one a forester, and the youngest son Bryan became a doctor and is now a successful neurologist in London. The Youl descendents mix ability in practical matters like home renovation with an interest in culture, food, music and travel.

Familiar Latrobe Valley iden-tities who appear in these mem-oirs include the Anglican Dea-coness Sheila Payne, the piano teacher Ivan Larsen who taught Grace, the headmaster Keith Brownbill who runs University of the Third Age classes, and Kath Teychenne who founded the Latrobe Valley Eisteddfod, which Grace’s sons participated in. Her Morwell relatives Bruce and Elsie McMaster are promi-nent in local government and local history circles.

People who become teach-ers and write books often have education in their background. Grace Youl’s great grandfather was a Welshman with an Eng-lish university degree who be-came a headmaster in Australia in the nineteenth century.

Grace has written a book in her eighties, but so did two other members of her family. Her sister-in-law May McMas-ter was a remarkable woman who died when 103 and lived in three centuries. She wrote a history of her area, Turton’s Creek, in her eighties. Grace’s uncle, Horrie Jones, wrote two books on his area of Traralgon late in his life.

In recent decades Grace has spent much of her life travel-ling, mainly in Europe. She is lucky in having her youngest son Bryan living in London, which provides a base for Euro-pean travel.

In addition Bryan and his wife Pat own a house in the Camargue region of Provence in southern France, where each year in high summer they stage a music festival. The family is immersed in music – one grand-daughter sings at the London Proms.

Grace’s life is a representative illustration of how dramatically Australia has changed over the past four or so decades, mainly due to enormously increased wealth.

In her fi rst 50 years Grace Youl lived a life which was ba-

sic, where every penny had to be watched, with no luxuries or discretionary spending power, as we now say. But in the last three decades she has been able to go overseas many times and at last to enjoy the good things of life.

A great number of Austral-ians now explore overseas, like Americans did in Europe after the First World War.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians went overseas every month this year, partly because of the high Australian dollar. Reciprocally these trips have altered the way we view Australia. Grace Youl’s life and memoir is a wonderful expres-sion of these changes.

Central CatholicBookshop

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 sacra-mental and religious gifts, or search for specifi c

items by author, title or keyword.Open seven days

Phone and mail orders welcome. Credit cards accepted.

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

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 15

Quick calendarWhat’s on & whenOctober15 – Feast of St Theresa of

Avila19 – CDF Board meeting20 - Valley region meeting,

Newborough, noon. 20 – Marian retreat led by

Fr Francis Merlino OFM, t Mary’s Cathedral 10.30am to 3pm22-23 Youth ministry leader

training26 – Finance Council meeting27 – Ecumenical gather-

ing Christ Church, Anglican Church, Drouin, 11am30 – St Sofi a Festival, Koo

Wee Rup, Mass 9.30am31 – Deadline for November

Catholic Life

November1 – Melbourne Cup holiday1 – All Saints Day2 – All Souls Day8 – East region meeting, Or-

bost, 10.30am9 - South region meeting,

St Laurence’s parish centre, Leongatha, 11.30am9 - November Catholic Life

published11 – Remembrance Day15 – Central Region meeting,

St Ita’s parish room, Drouin, 7.30pm20 – Annual pilgrimage

to Shrine of Our Lady at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sale, 2.30pm21 – Presentation of the

Blessed Virgin Mary23 – West Region meeting, St

Michael’s new hall, Berwick, 10.30am27 – First Sunday of Advent 28 – Deadline for December

Catholic Life

December1 – Valley Region Christmas

break-up, Morwell Club, noon3 – Feast of St Francis Xavier4 – Advent refl ection after-

noon6 - Heart region break up7 - December Catholic Life

published8 - Immaculate Conception14 – Joint meeting of CDF

Board and Finance Council (tentative)

16 - Primary schools break-up25 – Christmas Day26 – Boxing Day31 – New Year’s Eve

2012January1 – New Year’s Day1 - World Day of Peace2 – New Year’s Day public

holiday8- Epiphany9 – Baptism of the Lord17 – Memorial of St Anthony24 – Memorial of St Francis

de Sales26 – Australia Day public

holiday28 – Memorial of St Thomas

Aquinas30 – Deadline for February

Catholic Life

February1 – First term begins2- Presentation of the Lord8 – February Catholic Life11 – Our Lady of Lourdes21 – Shrove Tuesday22 – Ash Wednesday, begin-

ning of Lent27 – Deadline for March

Catholic Life

March7 – Catholic Life published8 – St John of God Memorial12 – Labor Day public holi-

day17 – Solemnity of St Patrick

(St Patrick’s Day)19 – Solemnity of St Joseph26 – Annunciation of the Lord30 – First term holidays begin

April1 – Passion Sunday6 – Good Friday7 – Holy Saturday, Easter

Vigil8 – Easter Sunday9 – Easter Monday public

holiday10 – Deadline for April Cath-

olic Life15 – Divine Mercy Sunday16-20 – Sale Diocese clergy

retreat16 – Second term begins18 – Catholic Life published25 – Anzac Day

Bishop’s DiaryOctober 12-23 - Ad limi-

na visit to Rome with Aus-tralian bishops.

October 25 - Return to Australia.

October 26 - Diocesan Finance Council meeting.

October 30 - Mission Sunday Mass, Narre War-ren, 11am. Admission to candidacy for the priest-hood of Siju Xavier and blessing of VCE students.

November 1 - Melbourne Cup Day holiday.

November 2 - Annual meeting of Victorian bish-ops with religious leaders, Melbourne.

November 3 - Corpus Christi Seminary meeting, Carlton.

November 3 - Catholic Theological College meet-ings, East Melbourne.

November 4 - Regional

forum, Pakenham, 7.30pm.November 5 - Regional

forum, Bairnsdale, 11am.November 5-6 - Masses

in cathedral.November 7 - 11 - Con-

duct retreat for Scalabrin-ian priests, Sydney.

November 13 - Mass for deceased bishops of Sale, St Mary’s Cathedral, 9.30am.

November 15 - Catholic College Sale governor’s dinner.

November 16 - Staff re-fl ection morning, followed by lunch.

November 19 - Diocesan pastoral council meeting, Churchill, 10am.

November 19 - Regional forum, Churchill, 1pm

November 20 - Final Mass at Bruthen, noon.

November 20 - Pilgrim-

age to Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St Mary’s Cathedral, 2.30pm.

November 21 - Meeting of Bishops’ Commission for Ecumenism and Inter- Religion, Sydney.

November 21 - Meeting of Bishops’ Commission for Relations for Aborigi-nals and Torres Strait Is-landers, Sydney.

November 22-25 - Aus-tralian Catholic Bishops’ Conference plenary ses-sion, Sydney.

Nagle e-Store making historyBAIRNSDALE - The manuals on how to educate secondary students are being re-written at Nagle College in Bairnsdale as their VCAL students undertake a revolution in learning.

The combination of a group of teachers with a range of skills and a passion for engag-ing students in applied learn-ing has resulted in an engaging program that consists of stu-dents designing and marketing a product to sell on an e-Store.

All aspects of this pilot pro-gram have been delivered at Nagle College with the end re-sult going live on-line.

Nagle College co-ordina-tor for applied learning, Tina Sonka, explains the initiative behind the program: “As teach-ers we identifi ed a need for stu-dents to undertake a project that was creative, developed em-ployability and entrepreneurial skills, and gave students the chance to problem solve and work in teams.

“Students were required to design a product using recycled materials. They developed a prototype which was critically analysed by their peers and teachers. Feedback from this process was discussed between the students and implemented in their fi nal products. Students had to photograph their prod-uct, write a blurb, cost the prod-uct and place it on the e-Store site.”

To meet the needs of the community service aspect of the program the students, as a group, needed to decide where the profi ts of the e-Store would go.

After researching their op-tions through Caritas and the Salesian fundraising, the re-sults saw them designing and creating pig pens and chicken coops for the Smokey Moun-tain dumpsites (generic name for the rubbish dump areas

in the Philippines). There are many such areas throughout the Philippines where tens of thou-sands of Filipinos live and die experiencing little outside of this humble existence.

Most make a meagre living off recycled plastics and metals collected from the dump sites and surrounding areas – usually less than $AU2 a day. To buy a sow costs $AU100 or approxi-mately 4500 pesos. However raising and selling the piglets from one sow can potentially support a family indefi nitely.

Students in the Nagle College VCAL program researched and designed chicken coops and pig pens that were durable, could be fl at packed and shipped to the Philippines. Each coop or pen will be provided with the funds to purchase the livestock in the Philippines.

This integrated and holistic approach to learning has al-lowed the students to develop and demonstrate a range of skills that include:

• Using a range of resources to research appropriate materi-als and designs

• Creating instructions on

how to assemble the coops and pens

• Costing the materials and end products

• Understanding the curren-cy exchange when purchasing livestock

• Organising shipping of the products to the Philippines

• Demonstrating work related skills

• Participating in a commu-nity service project

• Working as a team to prob-lem solve.

With the launch of the e-Store Nagle College has taken the next step in providing a learn-ing approach that is innova-tive, contemporary and student driven.

As a regional school, Nagle College is proving that loca-tion is no longer a factor in de-termining success as students from rural areas have great opportunities to succeed when teachers are willing to ‘think outside the box’.

This holistic program is a bold venture into the future, a future that holds much promise for new initiatives in education.

VCAL students at Nagle College working on boomerangs for one of their projects.

IN October, 1986, 160 religious leaders responded to Pope John Paul II’s invitation to gather at Assisi.

Some 32 Christian religious organisations were represented.

In addition, representatives of the following non-Christian world religions attended: Hin-duism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, African and American animists, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism, and Baha’i.

On January 1 this year Pope Benedict XVI announced that

he wished to commemorate this historic meeting. The Austral-ian Bishops’ Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-religious Relations has invited Austral-ian dioceses to join in with this commemoration. Accord-ingly, an ecumenical gatheringwill take place at the Anglican Christ Church, Drouin, on Oc-tober 27, stating at 11am.

Members of the Sale diocese are encouraged to join this Pil-grimage of Truth, Pilgrimage ofPeace

Commemoration of ecumenical event

Page 16 - Catholic Life, October 2011

A Page for Youth‘Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, fi rm in the faith’ (Col 2:7)

Good Youth Newswith Jess Denehy & Kelly Lucas

AT the beginning of the Sep-tember school holidays we were blessed to gather with our fellow WYD2011 pilgrims from the Diocese of Sale for a weekend of prayer, refl ection and retreat.

Over the weekend we dis-cussed Jesus’ call for each of us. On the Sunday Bishop Christo-pher’s homily to us delved into Pope Benedict’s words during WYD2011 – we’d like to share that homily with you now:

Dear young friends, we have

just listened to the Gospel where there are two responses to the constant invitation of the Lord to work in his vineyard.

One response is to say ‘Yes Lord I will work in the mis-sion”. However, after a short period of time the person mak-ing the statement walks away without following through. The other response is someone who says “No Lord, I will not work in your vineyard as a mission-ary”. Later the person thinks better of it and then works in the vineyard of the Lord.

The important thing to re-member, however, is that the call from the Lord is constant. It is merciful and loving but does require everything from us. Missionary work in the Lord is not part time. As one expression phrases it, it is something “costing little less than everything”.

My dear young friends, my prayer is that you will in these times of the grace of World Youth Day Madrid, experience God’s constant, merciful and loving presence in your life.

You may not have been aware of it because it was preached in Spanish language, but Benedict XVI in his homily on Sunday morning 21st August 2011 at World Youth Day Madrid, had the following important point to say about friendship with the Lord which is totally in har-mony with today’s Gospel. He preached:

“Dear young people, today Christ is asking you the same question which he asked the apostles ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Responding to him with generosity and courage as befi ts young hearts like your own, say to him ‘Jesus, I know that you are the Son of God, who has given your life for me. I want to follow you faithfully and to be led by your word. You know me and you love me. I place my trust in you and I put my whole life into your hands. I want you to be the power that strength-ens me and the joy which never leaves me’.”

This is such a beautiful prayer of surrender that our Pope gives each one of us. May I recom-mend that you get to know this

prayer well and say it daily as a Surrender Prayer to Jesus. We are surrendering into His Maj-esty. We are surrendering into His Love which knows no end. We may be unfaithful but Jesus is always merciful and faithful to us. This is the fi rst pillar of friendship with Jesus.

But then the Pope goes on in the homily to talk about a sec-ond important pillar in friend-ship with Jesus. Let us return to the text in which he offers us this second foundation of our life with Him.

“Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a sup-port for the faith of others. I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ, and which lead you to discover the beauty of His Love. Growing in friendship with Christ necessarily means recognising the importance of joyful participation in the life of your parishes, communi-ties and movements, as well as the celebration of Sunday Mass, frequent reception of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the cultivation of personal prayer and meditation on God’s Word.”

So this second pillar of friend-ship with Jesus means that we cannot believe alone. We are not individuals separated from each other. Jesus has given us his Church. It is the Body of Christ. Of course we are aware there are many weaknesses in the Church because of human involvement. However, Jesus lives in us. He is holy within us. For this reason we can say the Church is holy. It is His Body within us and we draw strength from the life that he gives us in the Word of God and the Sacra-ments particularly.

But there is a third and fi nal pillar of friendship with Jesus that the Pope draws to our at-tention at the fi nal Mass of World Youth Day Madrid.

This pillar concerns the work of mission and evangelisation which we are all called to.

I quote from the Pope again, “Friendship with Jesus will also lead you to bear witness to the faith wherever you are, even when it meets with rejec-tion or indifference. We can-not encounter Christ and not want to make Him known to others so do not keep Christ to yourselves! Share with oth-ers the joy of your faith. The world needs the witness of your faith, it surely needs God. I think that the presence here of so many young people, com-ing from all over the world, is a wonderful proof of the fruit-

fulness of Christ’s command to the Church; ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole of creation’ (Mk 15:16). You have been given the extraordinary task of being disciples and missionaries of Christ in other lands and coun-tries fi lled with young people who are looking for something greater, and because of their love, tells them that more au-thentic values do exist, they do not let themselves be seduced by the empty promises of a lifestyle which has no room for God.”

These are indeed wonderful and challenging of the succes-sor of St. Peter, our Pope Ben-edict XVI!

So let us be courageous in the times ahead. World Youth Day Madrid would be seen by all of you as a major stepping stone in your life in Christ. But it is a stepping stone, it is not the fi rst and it won’t be the last. May we grow together in the love of the Lord alive in His Church to become the missionaries God wants us to be.

May I conclude by thanking you all so much for all that you have done, especially our Youth Leaders, and I pledge to you my support and prayerful best wishes in the times ahead.

YOUTH ministry leaders and volunteers are invited to “Re-charge 2011” with a day of prayer, refl ection and skill-building.

“Recharge 2011” is an oppor-tunity to meet other people in-volved in youth ministry in the diocese, to share some of our experiences and to nourish our-selves, and our vocation, with prayer and professional devel-opment. The day will include practical youth ministry work-shops and lunch will be pro-vided.

Fr Christian Fini OMI will be our special guest for “Re-charge 2011”. Fr Christian is the director of Oblate Youth Australia and has many years

experience working with young people in both school and par-ish environments.

“Recharge 2011” will be held 9.15am - 4.30pm Sunday Oc-tober 23 at the St Ita’s Hall, 50 Victoria St, Drouin. Mass will be at 10.30am.

If you are a youth ministry leader working or volunteer-ing in our parishes, schools or diocesan community make sure you set this day aside to invest in yourself and your youth min-istry vocation.

The “Recharge 2011” profes-sional development day will cost $20 per participant. Please RSVP to Jess on jessd@sale.catholic.org.au to register your attendance.

PARTICIPANTS enjoy Recharge last year.

Recharge your youthministry batteries

LOUD and enthusiastic are the two words you would use to describe the CSYMA (Catholic Schools Youth Ministry Aus-tralia) conference day held at Lavalla Catholic College this month.

200 students from across the diocese gathered for a day of workshops, prayer and fun lead by gun youth ministry staff from our schools.

Students could choose from many workshops including prayer, leadership, games, dra-ma, social justice, leadership and music. With the option to try three throughout the day students could focus on their interests and passions.

Guest presenters included Roz Kelly from the St Vincent De Paul society and musician Steven Kirk.

Steven fl ew in from Canberra for the day and led the music ministry, with support from the St Francis Xavier band, for the whole day.

The afternoon saw everyone coming together for a moving liturgy.

Dead silence descended the room as the candles were lit and scripture and meditation followed.

To complete our time togeth-er the volume was pumped up and many students had the op-

portunity to put what they had learnt during the workshops into action.

The band rocked out the songs they had worked on. The drama group performed the ‘Box’ drama. The world youth day pilgrims gave a sharing about their experiences in Ma-drid. The band and crowd got

even louder. Then fi nally the prayer group closed the event and sent us on our way.

Still buzzing, with our ears still ringing, we munched on traditional youth ministry food, pizza, before heading home. Lavalla had been terrifi c hosts and a wonderful day was had by all.

Student conference day rocks

CONGRATULATIONS to Ja-son Blackburn and his bride Bianca who were married this month at St Ita’s Drouin.

Jason is a teacher at Marist Sion College Warragul and the leader of the Year 10 Remar, youth ministry group.

Jason and Bianca were sur-rounded by family and friends

on the day including staff fromthe college and Jason’s own re-ligion teacher from Year 12 atSt Peter’s Cranbourne.

The bride looked stunning in a strapless, lace and beadedgown while Jason was beamingwith his new wife on one armand his rosary bracelet on the other.

Wedding bells are ringing

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 17

For the Young and Young at Heart

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

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

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

THE carpet layer had just fi nished installing carpet for a lady. He stepped out for a smoke, only to realise he’d lost his cigarettes.

In the middle of the room, under the carpet, was a bump. ‘’No sense pulling up the

entire fl oor for one pack of smokes,’’ he said to himself. He proceeded to get out his hammer and fl attened the hump.

As he was cleaning up, the lady came in. ‘’Here,’’ she said, handling him his pack of cigarettes. ‘’I found them in the hallway.’’ ‘’Now,’’ she said, ‘’if only

I could fi nd my budgerigar.’’

A CHAMPION jockey is about to enter an important race on a new horse. The horse’s trainer meets him before the race and says,

‘’All you have to remember with this horse is that every time you approach a jump, you have to shout, ‘ALLL-LEEE OOOP!’ really loudly in the horse’s ear. Providing you do that, you’ll be fi ne.’’

The jockey thinks the trainer is mad but promises to shout the command. The race begins and they ap-proach the fi rst hurdle. The jockey ignores the train-er’s ridiculous advice and the horse crashes straight through the centre of the jump.

They carry on and ap-proach the second hurdle. The jockey, somewhat em-barrassed, whispers ‘Aleeee ooop’ in the horse’s ear. The same thing happens--the horse crashes straight through the center of the jump.

At the third hurdle, the jockey thinks, ‘’It’s no good, I’ll have to do it,’’ and yells, ‘’ALLLEEE OOOP!’’ really loudly. Sure enough, the horse sails over the jump with no problems. This con-tinues for the rest of the race, but due to the earlier prob-lems the horse only fi nishes third.

The trainer is fuming and asks the jockey what went wrong. The jockey replies, ‘’Nothing is wrong with me--it’s this bloody horse. What is he--deaf or something?’’

The trainer replies, ‘’Deaf?? DEAF?? He’s not deaf--he’s BLIND!’’

A YOUNG man lay sprawled across three en-tire seats in the posh cinema. When the usher came by and

noticed this he whispered to the youth, “Sorry, sir, but you’re only allowed one seat.”

The youth groaned but didn’t budge. The usher be-came more impatient. “Sir, if you don’t get up from there, I’m going to have to call the manager. The youth just grunted.

The usher marched briskly back up the aisle. In a mo-ment he returned with the manager.

Together the two of them tried repeatedly to move the youth, but with no success. Finally, they summoned the police.

The policeman surveyed the situation briefl y then asked, “All right buddy, what’s your name?” “Sam,” the youth moaned. “Where are you from,

Sam?” With pain in his voice Sam

replied.... “The balcony.”

A PREACHER, who was “humor impaired,” attended a conference to help encour-age and better equip pastors for their ministry.

Among the speakers were many well known and dy-namic speakers.

One boldly strode to the microphone and in a loud, confi dent voice gathered the entire crowd’s attention, then said, “The best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman that wasn’t my wife!”

The crowd was shocked! After a brief pause, he fol-

lowed up by saying, “And that woman was my moth-er!”

The crowd burst into laughter and he delivered the rest of his talk, which went over quite well.

The next week, the pastor decided he’d give this hu-mor thing a try, and use that joke in his sermon.

As he surely approached the pulpit that sunny Sun-day, he tried to rehearse the joke in his head. It suddenly seemed a bit foggy to him.

Getting to the microphone he said loudly, “The greatest years of my life were spent in the arms of another wom-an that was not my wife!”

The congregation inhaled half the air in the room.

After standing there for almost 10 seconds in the stunned silence, trying to recall the second half of the joke, the pastor fi nally blurted out, “...and I can’t remember who she was!”

Time for a Laugh Columbus seeks the way

CHRISTOPHER Columbus was looking a new way to India but bumped into America in-stead. Send in your colouring for a chance to win a prize.

A CAT and a mouse died on the same day and went up to Heaven. At the top they met God and he asked them ‘How do you like it so far?’

The mouse replied ‘It’s great, but can I get a pair of roller skates?’ God said ‘Sure’, and he gave him a pair of roller skates.

The next day God saw the cat and asked him ‘How do you like it up here so far?’ and the cat replied ‘Great, I didn’t know you had meals on wheels up here!’

THE man was trying to buy a health insurance policy. The insurance agent was going down the list of standard ques-tions.

“Ever have an accident?”“No, not a one.”“None? You’ve never had any accidents.”“No. Never.”“Well, you said on this form you were bitten by a snake

once. Wouldn’t you consider that an accident?”“Heck, no. That reptile bit me on purpose.”

Two for the roadColouringcontestwinnerWINNER of last month’s contest is TAYLA DYKE, 10, who attends St Joseph’s Primary School, Trafalgar.

Congratulations for doing such a good job of the man sitting on the desert island.

We will try to deliver Tay-la’s prize next week.

To those who missed out, keep trying.

We love receiving your en-tries in the colouring contest.

Children should try to have entries in to us no later than the end of the month.

Page 18 - Catholic Life, October 2011

MACHINELAID

ASPHALT• DRIVEWAYS • ROADWAYS• CARPARKS • SUBDIVISIONS• BITUMEN SPRAYING• ROAD PROFILING

& STABILISATION• FULL CONSTRUCTION• TENNIS COURTS

ACRYLIC SURFACES• SYNTHETIC GRASS

Established

33 years

5152 29415152 2941CRANES ASPHALTING &BITUMEN SEALING PTY LTD

PAVING GIPPSLAND &LATROBE VALLEY

New words, deeper meaning, same MassBy Fr Bernie Krotwaar

LAST month, the new texts of the Holy, Holy and the Memo-rial Acclamations were intro-duced. This month we begin using the texts for the Rite of Communion.

LAMB OF GOD The ‘Lamb of God’ is a

prayer of invocation within the Fraction Rite.

FRACTION RITE … THE BREAKING OF BREAD

Following the Rite of Peace, the Fraction Rite is that part of the Mass where the Bread is broken for distributing Com-munion.

This is an ancient rite that has

its origins in the action of the Lord at the Last Supper: ‘He took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to his disciples …’. It was part of the Eucharistic celebration from its beginnings, and in fact, in the early Church the celebration of the Eucharist was known as the ‘Breaking of the Bread’.

Before the distribution of Holy Communion, the Priest breaks the consecrated bread into smaller pieces, then takes a piece of this bread and drops it into the chalice. These actions have great symbolic value. The breaking of the bread which is to be distributed to all present is a sign that we who are many are made one body by receiving Communion which is Christ,

the one Bread of Life. In Bap-tism we were given a share in the life of Christ; we became members of his Body. Our common sharing in the life of Christ also unites us to one an-other and each time we receive the Body and Blood of the Lord in Communion our unity with him – and with each other – is strengthened. When we come to Mass we do not come sim-ply as individuals; we gather as the community of the baptised, made one by our common life in Christ.

LAMB OF GODAs the breaking of the Bread

begins, the Lamb of God or Ag-nus Dei is sung. As a chant, it is in litany style, consisting of an ‘invocation’ followed by a response:

“Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mer-cy on us.”

Ideally, the ‘Lamb of God’ invocation is sung by a choir or leader in chant, with the peo-ple’s sung or chanted responses. The invocation normally fol-lows a set of three repetitions – the fi rst two times the response being … ‘have mercy on us’. The third response, however, is … ‘grant us peace’. If the ‘Lamb of God’ is not sung it is recited by the people.

TEXTLamb of God, you take away

the sins of the world, have mer-cy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mer-cy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us

peace.

If the fraction is prolonged for any reason – e.g. breaking Bread for a large community – the invocation can be repeated a number of times beyond three. Yet the fi nal time, the response is always ‘grant us peace’.

INVITATION TO COM-MUNION

Within the context of the Fraction Rite, the ‘Lamb of God’ furthermore precedes and links into the Invitation to Com-munion – picking up the same accent:

Behold the Lamb of God, be-hold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.

There is a marked change in the text of the response by priest and assembly to the Invi-tation to Communion:

‘Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but onlysay the word and my soul shall be healed’.

These are the words spoken by the Roman centurion who comes to Christ asking him to heal his servant (Matthew chap-ter 8).

Like other liturgical texts, these words of the priest to the people have more than one meaning.

As well as inviting us to par-take in the Body and Blood of Christ in Communion, the words remind us of the eschato-logical aspect of the Eucharist.

They remind us that ‘this sup-per’ – in this Eucharist – also anticipates our being at the eter-nal banquet with Christ in the

everlasting kingdom. By thisEucharistic image of intimacywith God, the Church express-es that while on this earth we yearn for the ‘new heavens and new earth’, God in the mean-time supports and sustains us here and now at the Lord’s table with the food of life for ever.

The meaning of this paradox of the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ is clear. The world as we know it will come to an end. And our lives on earth will come to anend.

We look to both of these endsencouraged by our belief in the paschal faith that leads us to‘watch for’, ‘await’ and ‘worktowards’ the second coming ofJesus which will bring all things to completion. Meanwhile we celebrate the Eucharist in joyfulhope and eager expectation.

In a unique and privileged way, at Eucharist we receiveagain and again what St Paulhimself received from the Lord and has handed on to us: belief in the resurrection and the expe-rience of resurrection through the Eucharist.

In turn, we – as ministers andfaithful gathered assemblies ofthe liturgy – hand on to eachother what we have seen andheard … that which we our-selves too have received from our forebears in faith; namely,the unique mystery of Jesus the Christ himself.

Next month: Welcoming theFull Implementation of the re-vised Roman Missal

Catholic LifeClassifi ed Ads1, 2, 3 step advertising

1...Fill in form, one word per square 2... Check cost at right hand side 3...Post form with appropriate amount.Please send cheque or money order with advertisement to:CATHOLIC LIFE CLASSIFIEDSCATHOLIC MEDIA GIPPSLANDPO BOX 183SALE VIC 3853

Closing date for nextissue is

OCTOBER 31, 2011

$10.00 min

$11.20

$12.60

$13.80

$15.00

Name: ...........................................................................................................

Address: .......................................................................................................

........................................................... Phone: ...............................................Boxed display classifi eds are also available at $7.70 per column centimetre.

Please phone Catholic Life on 5144 6132 if you are having diffi culty calculating cost of an advertisement.

$10 minimum for fi rst 24 words.Add $1.20 for additional six words or part thereof

FormerMoe priestdies, age 79ANOTHER former parish priest of Moe has died.

Fr Patrick O’Reilly OMI died on Sunday at 9am at the John R. Hanna aged care facility at Mulgrave.

Fr O’Reilly, 79, was parishpriest in the late 1970s and ear-ly 1980s.

He was born in Ireland in 1932 and after being ordained in 1960 spent his entire priestly life in Australia.

He celebrated the golden ju-bilee of his ordination last year.

After serving at Moe, Fr O’Reilly went on to be parish priest at Rosebud.

He has been in ill health for the past few years.

Reqiuem Mass will be cel-ebrated tomorrow, October 13 at 11am at St John VianneyChurch, Springvale North.

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

Catholic Life, October 2011 - Page 19

Classifi eds

Bishop’sFamily

FoundationIf you are making or

updating your will, youmay consider leaving a

bequest to the Bishop’s Family

Foundation.

The Bishop’s FamilyFoundation has produced

some easy-to-read bookletsexplaining bequests whichmay be an advantage toread before seeing your

solicitor to prepare orupdate your will.

Copies may be obtained byphoning Pat

on 5144 4991

Do it today and sleepeasy knowing you have

done your part.

Let’s leavesomethingfor those in

need

public notices

wanted knownbingoSacred Heart School

BINGOEvery Friday

Morwell RSL Club,Elgin St., Morwell

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

Further details phone5134 8484 or 5133 7221 (AH)

PHOTOGRAPHER covering weddings, baptisms, confi rma-tions, debutantes, family por-traits. CD purchase possible. Online purchase of big photo-graphs for convenience. Cov-ering Melbourne and outlying areas, though fl exible. Please email info@sadaaqat.com for portfolio. Call 0430 188 200.

prayerST Jude, Patron of cases de-spaired of, pray for me that I may receive the help of Heaven at this time of need and despair. I will honor you and gratefully, encourage devotion to you. St Jude intercede for us and all who seek your help. Amen.

VOCATIONSPriests &Deacons

Are you considering a vocation as a priest or

deacon for the Diocese of Sale?

If so please contactDiocesan Vocations

DirectorFr Darek Jablonski

5996 1985vocations@sale.catholic.org.au

Catholic Education Offi ceDiocese of Sale

Youth Minister Secondary Colleges

The Catholic Bishop of Sale is seeking to appoint a Youth Minister Secondary Colleges. The position is a full-time position in the Dioc-esan Youth Ministry. The primary role of the Youth Minister Second-ary Colleges will be to oversee the implementation and development of the Catholic Schools Youth Ministry Australia (CSYMA) Program in all 7 diocesan secondary schools in accordance with the vision out-lined in ‘Towards Courageous Renewal. The Youth Minster Secondary Colleges is accountable to the Bishop of Sale through the Director of Catholic Education, the Assistant Di-rector (Religious Education) and their representatives. In the day-to-day operation of the role the Youth Minister will report to the Youth Ministry Coordinator and work collaboratively as part of the Diocese of Sale Youth Ministry Offi ce team. Selection Criteria

The successful applicant will have:• experience in youth ministry• demonstrated ability to work in a Catholic school environment• active engagement in a local Catholic parish or equivalent body• demonstrated organisational ability• effi cient communication skills• a current ‘Working With Children Check’ or VIT registration

TenureThe appointment is full time and for a period of up to three years. Salary and ConditionsSalary and conditions for the position will depend on the qualifi ca-tions and experience of the successful applicant and will be in line with the Diocesan guidelines (attached). If the position involves secondment of a teacher from within a school of the diocese, then payment will be negotiated as a percentage of the person’s current salary. Each year of service as a Diocesan Youth Minister Secondary Colleges will be counted as a year of teaching experience. A current Victorian Driver’s licence is required.ApplicationsEnquiries may be directed to Mrs Pauline Low, Professional Assistant to the Director on (03) 5622 6634 or email plow@ceosale.catholic.edu.auA detailed Position Description, Application Form, Confi dential Referee Assessment Forms and other relevant information may be downloaded from the Catholic Education Offi ce website www.ceo-sale.catholic.edu.auPlease return the completed letter of application, Application Form, and Curriculum Vitae to:

The DirectorDiocese of SaleCatholic Education Offi ce6 Witton StreetWARRAGUL VIC 3820Attention: Mrs Pauline Low plow@ceosale.catholic.edu.au

Closing Date: 21 October, 2011

situations vacant

Sacred Heart School Bingo

requires the service of an experienced

BINGO CALLERFridays only

60 game capacity.Resume/references required.

Please send to:Permit HolderSacred Heart School Bingo16 Bunyip Court.,Morwell 3840.

Phone enquiries 0401 962 404

wanted known

for sale

VINTAGE Antique look Doll Pram with Lace, $100. Pick up delivery by arrangement. Phon-be 5144 4251.

SUNBEAM electric barbecuewith hood, long lead. Ideal forhome barbecues. As new con-dition. $75. Can deliver. Phone0407 213 328.

for sale

Catechists gatherSALE - A group of catechists gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral chapter house last month to re-new friendships made 20 years ago.

They met in the chapter house where many of their meetings occurred.

It was here they attended workshops (music, art, role playing), accreditation classes

and even taught classes. On a white board those pre-

sent wrote down the namesof other catechists, priestsand religious who had encour-aged them and Bishop JeremiahCoffey who was always a greatsupporter of the catechists.

There was much laughter andjoy reminiscing and Fr AndrewWise joined in the celebration.

KOO WEE RUP – St John’s Primary School held its annual football day just before break-ing up for the holidays.

It was fantastic to see so many children in their colors and sup-porting their team.

The children completed the whole school team graph with Collingwood being the most supported side.

Throughout the day, the chil-dren completed literacy, nu-meracy and physical education activities based on football.

A big thanks goes to the Par-ents and Friends Association for organising our footy lunch.

The children really enjoyed having a pie or hot dog and acan of soft drink for their lunch.

Showing their colors

SOME enthusiastic young parishioners gather with Fr John Allenfollowing the raffl e draw.

Page 20 - Catholic Life, October 2011

Nagle student conquers slopes to be championBAIRNSDALE - Nagle Col-lege Year 7 student, Cara Plant, competed in a number of events at the Victorian Interschool Snowsports Championships held at Mt Buller.

These are very competitive championships with up to 280 competitors in some events. Cara competed in Alpine GS, Skiercross, BoarderX and Snowboard GS in the Division 3 (Year 7 and 8) Girls.

Her fi rst three races were a bit mixed, with a few crashes, although she qualifi ed top 16 in the SkierX, and fi nished 22nd in the fi nal.

On the fi nal day Cara com-peted in the BoarderX event. After her fi rst run, she was in equal fi rst. For the fi nal Cara was the last competitor down and managed to win by 1 sec-ond, a great achievement after all that nervous waiting.

Cara is now the state cham-pion in this event. She went on

the contest the national titles afew weeks later and fi nished acreditable eighth.

The course at Falls Creek washeavily rutted and icy, makingit diffi cult and dangerous forthe competitors, with many get-ting knocked unconscious fromheavy falls.

Cara qualifi ed for the fi nals inher BoarderX event and foundherself up against members ofthe New South Wales Institutefor Sport Snowboarding Squad.

Again, Cara was the last com-petitor down the treacherousslopes, and had seen the suc-cess or failure of those who hadgone before her.

Showing true grit, Cara navi-gated the course in style, suc-cessfully making it down with-out crashing out.

Nagle College congratulatesCara Plant on this fantasticachievement and wishes herwell for future snowboardingevents and competitions.

NAGLE College Year 7 student, Cara Plant, tackles the slopes at Mt Buller during the State Inter-school Snowsports Championships where she won the BoarderX event to become State Champion.

Latin HighMass drawsabout 120ABOUT 120 people attended the sung Latin High Mass at StMary’s Cathedral on September 18.

Bishop Christopher Prowse precided with Dean of the Ca-thedral Fr Andrew Wise beingthe principal celebrant, assisted by priests of the Latin commu-nity at St Aloysius, East Caul-fi eld.

It is believed to have been thefi rst Solemn High Mass in thecathedral in more than 40 years.

It is intended to hold such a Mass annually to celebrate the anniversary of the dedication ofthe cathedral.

For many of those attendingit was their fi rst experience of a Latin High Mass.DEAN of St Mary’s Cathedral, Fr Andrew Wise celebrates Mass with his back to the congregation.

HAVE you thought on occa-sions, like so many of us, that your relationship with God and His Church could be bet-ter – that you would like to get to know Our Blessed Mother, Mary and her role and impor-tance as intercessor in leading us to Jesus?

However, you continually ex-perience obstacles which block you in fulfi lling your important spiritual desires i.e. “something always comes up to stop me from spending time with God” or commonly “there aren’t enough hours in the day” or “ there is not enough of me to spread around – so I can make the time”.

Before we know it – time has passed and we haven’t pro-gressed in our genuine inten-tion of spending more quality time with God and His Mother, in the hope that our faith will deepen enabling us more trust-

ingly to answer God’s call andthus strive to act upon His Willfor us.

Then, perhaps, you may con-sider taking the fi rst step by at-tending the retreat hosted by Fr Francis Merlino OFM , respon-sible for the Marian Movement of Priests in Victoria, on Thurs-day, October 20 at St Mary’sCathedral, Pearson St., Sale.

The retreat will commence at 10.30am with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the day will include Holy Mass, Adora-tion, Benediction, Confession,Cenacle (Rosary and Prayers for Pope Benedict) three Re-fl ections and close at 3pm witha Consecration to Our Lady.

BYO lunch – tea and coffeewill be provided. Everyone iswelcome. For more informa-tion please contact Marianne Bagguley on 5147 1019.

Marian retreatat cathedral