SAC OFFICIAL VISITATION

 In addition to the visit of Fr. Zenon from Rome, on the occasion of the recent SAC Assembly, the end of April/early May will see two further members from the Generalate in this country on official Visitation. Such events are normal practice in the six-yearly life of all General Councils as part of their oversight responsibility.

We will be honoured by a visit from the General himself, Fr. Friedrich Kretz sac, accompanied by the English speaking General Consultor, (and former General Secretary), Fr. Jacob Nampudakam sac. Fr. Kretz was previously the South German Provincial.

Their two weeks in Australia will be evenly divided between east and west, reflecting pretty well the current SAC balance.  They arrive in Perth on 22nd April, move across to Melbourne on 30th April, and depart back to Rome on 7th May.

In view of Fr. Kretz’s role as head of one of the component bodies of the Union, he also wants “timely space for meetings with the various members of the UAC”. These spaces are currently being built into timetables arranged by east and west Local Communities and all are very welcome to join in.

In Western Australia, the General will visit Perth, Tardun, Geraldton and Beagle Bay. Riverton parish is planning a special function on Sunday 29th April, when parishioners and UAC members will welcome both visitors and at the same time, celebrate St. Vincent’s birthday.

In Victoria, the visitors will spend time at Millgrove, Syndal, Clayton and Kew.

Two opportunities are being provided for UAC members to meet Fr. Kretz and Fr. Jacob at Kew, on Saturday 5th May.  Everyone is invited to share a BYO picnic lunch from 12.noon to 3.00pm and have a chat with the General, over a cuppa.

As well, a special Eucharist will be celebrated on the same day, at 7.30 pm in the Pallotti Room, with supper provided afterwards. In particular, Fr. Kretz will honour the 50th anniversary of the Mariana community at this Eucharist, when Mariana members will launch their Golden Jubilee celebration program.

PLEASE TAKE THIS AS YOUR INVITATION TO ATTEND.

 Thanks in no small part to the hard work and warm hospitality of the staff at Pallotti College, the eleventh SAC Regional Assembly successfully concluded at Millgrove in January. The feature of this meeting that most distinguished it was the presence of a visitor from Rome — Fr.Xenon Hanas sac, the Polish Vice General who generously spent a week out of his hectic schedule to share our lives and be part of our searching. This happened in line with current policy to have a member of the General Council present at all such events around the Pallottine world — no longer so difficult in the light of modern travel opportunities.

The previous Assembly initiative, of having lay people become part of the dialogue, was repeated. Six representatives from Western Australia joined twelve from Victoria, happily reducing the average age of the total group! For the first three days they again made a thoughtful and energetic contribution, and their wisdom was carried across into the final two days of deliberation by the SACs.

In view of his personal oversight role in the Society, giving him the benefit of a more universal outlook, Fr. Hanas was able to bring much valuable experience into his own inputs. We were buoyed by his optimism about the future, supported by numbers indicating that we are actually growing worldwide, and his focus on the emerging churches, especially in the countries of Africa. He challenged us to become more involved in these and insisted several times that the future lies in a more international outlook.

Even before Ash Wednesday arrived most shops already had their shelfs stocked up with chocolate bunnies and colourful Easter eggs, symbols of new life and new beginning. It is as though the shops are trying to short circuit Lent and go straight to the feast of Easter.

Lent for us is a time of preparation for this new beginning of Easter. St. Francis de Sales described Lent as "the autumn of the spiritual life". It is a time to take stock of our lives, to examine our relationships with God and neighbour; to look at ways of improving our relationships with God, with others and the environment. Lent is time to take a realistic look at ourselves. Lent takes us to the basics. That's why we mark ourselves with ashes at the beginning of lent. Ash is a universal symbol for what is basic. It is language of the soul, which reminds us bluntly that "we are dust and dust we shall return". It's an archetypal symbol for repentance, to change our ways.

Among Bardi people of Dampier Peninsula, ash is often used in their initiation rite together with circumcision. The young man receives ''the cut'' and ash is rubbed onto his body. Through this ritual, the young man discovers that he is not the most important person in the world. The boy’s arrogance has to be subdued before wisdom is imparted to him by the elders; and only then is he able to receive his bush name and gain recognition in the community. Like the Alcoholic Anonymous attendee who knows that the first step towards recovery is knowing our own powerlessness to change, these ancient people understood implicitly that the stripping away of the small ego, the small ''i'', is necessary in order that we may discover the true ego, the big ''I'' created in the image of God. Thomas Keating uses the terms ''true self'' and ''false self'' to describe this. The small ''i'' is the false self, the self I construct for myself.  Whereas the true self is the ''I'' that is created in God's image.  Our false self, our pretences, has to be stripped way, burn away, reduced to ashes, before the true self can emerge. Lent for us is a time of sitting in the ashes so that growth may takes place within us. It is time for change, for conversion, ''metanoia'', and transformation. Prayers, fasting and almsgiving are means towards this end. They are the means by which changes can take place in our lives.

Everything in life is simply another step, not the final step, but in the process of becoming something else. Change is necessary for growth and there is no growth without struggle. The Gospels for the First Sunday of Lent (Mt. 4:1-11; Mk 1: 12-15; Lk 4:1-13) tell of the struggle of Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil. In our deserts, we, too, have to struggle with our demons. The demons of the prodigal son with grandiose ideas of self-importance, selfishness, lust and addictions; or we struggle with the demons of the older son, anger, bitterness, cynicism and jealousy. As with Jesus, struggle requires a commitment to the truth; to the truth of who we are and what God calls us to be.

We see in the story of Jacob a paradigm for our struggle. That it is only after a night of wrestling that he was able to receive the blessing. Jacob was wounded by the struggle, he came away limping, but he also came away with a blessing.  We, too, will emerge from our struggles with a blessing: we emerge with conversion, a renewed faith, a new sense of self, new courage, new strength and a new sense of hope. We are changed by the struggle and therefore struggle is necessary for growth. John Henry Newman once said that, "To live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often".  The essence of struggle is the decision to become new instead of just getting older. As Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1968, "You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid. Well you may go on and live until you are 90, but you're just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit."

Our contemplation must always lead us to ministry. Prayer and meditation must take us to the service of others. Lent takes us back to the nitty-gritty of life; back to the common folk; back to the suffering masses of humanity. Lent is about establishing the reign of God. Peace activist, Dan Berrigan SJ, once said, "The only way to be hopeful is to do hopeful things". So we prepare for Easter by being light in a world of darkness, by showing love and compassion to a hateful world, by being non-violent in all aspects of our lives.

WALTER SILVESTER MEMORIAL LECTURE

This year we are very pleased to announce the beginning of an annual, free public lecture series dedicated to the memory of Fr. Walter Silvester.

The inaugural lecture will take place on Tuesday 22nd of Mary, in the Mercy Lecture Theatre at the Australian Catholic University, Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. Refreshments will be served at 6.00 pm and the lecture will commence at 6.30 pm.

The aims of the lecture are threefold:

·        to honour Fr. Walter’s memory
·        to continue his pastoral work
·        to connect and collaborate with the Church in
      the Archdiocese of Melbourne

Archbishop Mark Coleridge, from Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese, has kindly consented to be the speaker on this occasion, and Archbishop Denis Hart will both launch the oration and preside during it.

Bookings should be made by Friday 27th April by phoning
Pat Heywood on (03) 9459 1798 or email to patron2@dodo.com.au

Disciples with Jesus

Thanks to Joseph Sans for a beautiful reflection on what these words mean.

If you have spent any time at Pallotti College, Millgrove, you will remember Joseph. The quiet man, often helping behind the bain-marie, even more often helping with the washing up and, behind the scenes,- fixing the water supply and the light bulbs, mowing the lawns, picking up visitors from the bus stop and so on and so on. Joseph sees all these things and many others as his way of being a ‘disciple with Jesus’.

He quotes from St. Matthew’s Gospel — 28. 18-20 “All authority is heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make Disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all the commands I have given you. And know that I am with you always until the end of time”.

Joseph goes on to reflect: There are many things to say about these words but I would like to emphasize the last sentence where Jesus said: ‘And know that I am with you always, yes to the end of time. In our changing world and changing church we need to keep our faith and our nerve and always remember that Jesus will triumph over evil. We must remember that, even when we cannot see the way, Jesus is walking with us and leading us and guiding us. Jesus walks through faith and not through statistics.

Further from St. Matthew’s Gospel: — 16.24-27. “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself, take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what does a man offer in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels and when He does, He will reward each one according to his deeds.”

Joseph points out to us that in this passage, Jesus talks about what a Disciple needs to do. He must renounce himself and take up his cross. These are the only qualifications that a disciple needs. If we were taking a position in the world, we would need a range of qualifications.

Not so, with Jesus, as long as we have faith in Him, we can be illiterate. Jesus overcomes many hurdles when we seek to do His work. All we have to do is ask His help. Jesus put ‘renouncing’ before ‘picking up the Cross and following’. When we renounce ourselves, we can become all things to all the people we are trying to help. This is not an easy thing to do and it does mean we will have to pick up our cross’. One of the temptations we have to avoid as a disciple is overloading ourselves. The devil doesn't always try to stop us being disciples. He is often happy seeing us take on more and more for Jesus because he knows that, sooner or later we will take on too much and lose our direction and our peace.

MARIANA COMMUNITY

We, the Mariana Community, are celebrating our Golden Anniversary this year. Many of you have played a fundamental part in the growth and development of our community and we welcome you to join in our celebrations.

We are a group of women in Australia who strive to live a life of love in and for the world, guided by our Spirit Statement which is:

Mariana women,
inspired by the discipleship
of Mary, Pallotti and others,
live lives of love
in and for the world -
acting justly, loving tenderly,
and walking humbly with our God,
as we respond to the call
to transform all of creation.

Following a formation time we celebrate our Consecration Ceremony, within the Eucharist, where we commit to live a life of love in and for the world. We take the promises of chastity, poverty and obedience which guide our living according to the Mariana way of life.

Since our beginnings in, Melbourne in, we have been a small group who continues to develop an understanding of living as single consecrated women within the Church and in society.

We support each other through our prayer life, our liturgical celebrations, our gatherings together and connectedness both formal and within the everyday.

Individually, members are responsible for their own finances, employment, living arrangements, and retirement. Members follow a range of occupations with their individual giftedness influencing the way they live out their promises always endeavouring to witness to the love of God in all spheres of their lives.

We currently have members in four states of Australia. Most of us live in and around Melbourne. We are an autonomous member body of the Union of the Catholic Apostolate – the Pallotti Family.

We are celebrating our 50 years of living during the next twelve months. Please keep an eye out in this newsletter for the planned celebrations and relevant invitations.

You are invited to join us as we mark the beginning of our celebration during Eucharist on Saturday, May, 5th 7:30 at Pallotti College, 85 Studley Park Road, Kew.

If you would like to know more or perhaps reconnect with the community or an individual member please call Cheryl Sullivan on (03) 9416 7138.

Looking forward to meeting up with you during the year.

Mariana Community
Coordinator: Cheryl Sullivan
31A Gooch Street,
Thornbury, Victoria 3071

Phone: 03 94167238

My Return to India……. John Nagle writes

I am a more experienced man for my second trip to India, and like the first it had many magnificent moments and I am afraid some very sad ones.

I was met in Chennai by my friend Fr Balaji Boyalla and left almost immediately for Bangalore, where I was warmly welcomed by Provincial Fr Vensus who is temporarily accommodated at the Novitiate while an administration building is completed. I had an opportunity to speak with the 22 students here and then off to Mysore to visit the new Theologate major seminary where students are in their final years of study before ordination. 15 deacons will be ordained priests in April.

I had the opportunity to talk to and with all the students and they are a very fine group of young men.

Back to Bangalore and a 14 hour train trip to Guntur and a further hour by car to reach our destination of St Vincent Pallotti parish at Amaravathi.

I experienced a wonderful and emotional welcome from the boys at 5am in the morning and the parishioners after the 8.30am Mass.  On my last visit I was given the title of Mr. John, this time it was Dad from the boys and Uncle from the girls.

I was able to spend many hours with the children and they enjoyed teaching me some words in Telugu especially the Sign of the Cross. They would show their delight when I got it right but I still have trouble with their names. I had arranged with Fr Balaji prior to arriving that we could take the children to the ocean for the day. This was the first experience for them and they certainly enjoyed every minute. We had some very tired children on the way home.

I was also received warmly at Sister Valsa's home for disadvantaged girls and they accompanied us to the beach wearing the most colourful saris.

The Church in 'that part of the vineyard' impresses as being well organised and disciplined and the numbers at Mass are inspiring. It was most difficult to say goodbye particularly to the children but I have many happy memories to sustain me for the year ahead.

CONTINUING ........ MY BROTHER MAURIE    by Ken Haddock.

TO RECAP!!  Maurie was a volunteer lay helper at the Pallottine Mission Centre in Rossmoyne, a suburb of Perth. The centre was home for aboriginal boys and girls from Tardun and the North, giving them the opportunity for continuing their education. We’re fortunate that Maurie wrote regular letters home — though at busy times, this presented a real challenge in his busy life -Three boys to work at 6.45, girls and boys to school at 8am. Pick up at 3.30 or 4.30 or later on football practice days. In the evening, transport for music lessons etc. In between, work, on the 25 acre property — growing vegetables, attending the large flower garden, planting oats, milking cows, and the ever present need, specially suited to Maurie’s motor mechanic skills, servicing the motor scooter, the lawn mowers, the two VW’s and the two Commer vans……..

WE CONTINUE:

Brother Basil who had worked in the Kimberley for thirty years was residing at the Centre and died during this time. Maurie noted: “Brother Basil died last week, he was a real character, I only knew him for a week, deaf as a door post but really popular with the all the kids. A large crowd of them went to the funeral, and they all threw a handful of dirt into the grave. It was impressive to see how they understand what death means and how moved they were.”

On Saturday 3rd July two of the apprentice boys celebrated their 21st Birthday in the hall and two hundred guests attended. Both had just completed their apprenticeships, one as a cabinet maker, Harold Little and the other Philip Albert as a boiler maker. Maurie wrote: “they got terrific praise from their employers which was a real tonic for the Mission and all the others that are here. They mix really well with the white community and are accepted by the greater percentage of the people.”

In his earlier years Maurie was a keen footballer with considerable talent. He played first with the CYMS, then with Shepparton East in the Goulburn Valley League and later with Alphington “A” grade amateurs. Some of his team mates in Shepparton East were local aborigine lads. It was no surprise that he enthusiastically took the opportunity to go along to watch the football at Perth each Saturday together with Father Luemmen and others to cheer on one of the boys, Harold Little, who played for Perth on the wing. The Mission Centre was allowed free entry to the ground by an arrangement with the W.A Football League.

In a letter to his mother he was concerned that she was making slow recovery in hospital and he uncharacteristically offered her some spiritual counsel: “Tell everyone I said they will have to pray harder than ever so that every thing will be alright. God knows what is best for us and what seems irksome to us, to Him it is all for the best.”

In his letters he frequently asked after other family members and his former work mates and friends. He expressed his satisfaction with how well he was getting along with his young charges: “They reckon I’m better than Father as I don’t growl at them when they get a bit noisy in the bus, but they are very well behaved, have good manners and are well dressed all the time. The girls play basketball now and they are in five different places - there are some pretty good players amongst them too.”

In November he wrote: “Still busy as both boys and girls have had their school sports which involved a lot of training most nights after school which meant a lot of extra trips and after all that they didn’t do much good. But they did alright in the basketball, they picked the best players for the school grades and the remainder formed a team representing the Mission and they finished up winning the premiership. The rest of the teams weren’t too happy about it”.

Father Luemmen and Brother Valentine went to Tardun for the opening of a new building and Brother Valentine stayed on for a longer break. Maurie wrote: “I have to get up earlier and milk the stupid cows. If they don’t improve I reckon we’ll be having some nice steaks for breakfast”

The Centre was used as a stop-over for members of the Pallottine community who were in transit to other Missions. Maurie mentioned the expected arrival of Fathers Mike McMahon and Allan Mithen on the 10 November and another priest and a school teacher. He commented: “It looks like being another busy week. There are also four others here from La Grange Mission. I think we’ll have to pack them in like sardines, end to end.”

The cow shed was damaged by a strong wind which took off the roof and placed it on top of the chook house 20 yards away. Maurie wrote: “We now have to do the milking in the open–roofed shed which is a bit cold and windy. It blew off last year too so Father is determined to make a good job of it this time – or else!”

At the finish of the school year there was a picnic to a place called Rocky Pools. Maurie wrote: “It drizzled in the morning but turned out a beautiful day. We all finished up swimming with our clothes on. I held one girl over the edge and someone pushed us in so I threw a couple of others in – the rest jumped in which saved me the trouble of catching them. They reckon it was the best picnic they had been on. No one took bathers as it didn’t look promising enough but the water was beautiful and warm.”

(Story continues in the next Pallottine Family Newsletter)

GENERAL COORDINATION COUNCIL

As has been mentioned in previous newsletters, the structure of the UAC includes a General Coordination Council, which meets annually in Rome.

This year the meeting will include an Extraordinary General Assembly to ratify the Statutes for the UAC worldwide. Since 2003, many members have studied the Statutes, working with Fr. Hubert Socha, an SAC canon lawyer, and have refined them to meet the initial intentions of St. Vincent Pallotti and current needs. The meeting will ratify these reviewed Statutes for final presentation to the appropriate Office in the Vatican, for approval.

The Extraordinary General Assembly will be attended by all the Presidents of the National Coordination Councils (NCCs), and in his capacity as President of the Australian NCC, Fr. Ray Hevern will travel to Rome for this Assembly, from 14th to 16th May. At the same time, in the week from 14th to 18th May, the General Coordination Council will be meeting, and our representative on that Council, Cheryl Sullivan, will also be travelling to Rome.

Please add your prayers for Fr. Ray and Cheryl and for all the delegates during these important days.

THANK YOU, and …

You may remember in the past newsletters there has been a request for financial contributions to enable the UAC to continue with its development in Australia.

Currently the Pallottine Fathers and Brothers are providing most of the funding.  Some very generous people responded to this request and $450 was received.

If there are others who would like to contribute to the UAC in this way, please forward your cheques, made out to:

UAC, and send to-
The Treasurer,
c/- Cheryl Sullivan,
31A Gooch Street,
Thornbury 3071.

SHORT CHAPTERS ON LIFE OF VINCENT PALLOTTI

Available by e-mail if you want to receive them. Every second week. But you must let me know your address.

Mine is jwinson@tpg.com.au
translation of Italian made from a booklet by Pistella.

ABOUT PEOPLE

Fr. Roger McGinley has settled quickly and easily into life at Corpus Christi, Clayton. He joins Br. Pat Bicknell whose home it has been for some time. It won’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows them that they are very much part of the community.

Fr. Joe Kearney has made a move, albeit a temporary one from WA to Victoria. Joe came across for the Assembly and has now begun a five months’ course at Yarra Theological Union.

After 25 years Fr. Kelvin Kenny is back in Victoria from the West where he spent 5 years in Tardun as homework tutor, chaplain to the Agricultural school and part of the maintenance team. From Tardun he spent a year in Geraldton in the Aboriginal Ministry. He then moved to Perth for another 6 years as an assistant priest to Fr. John Luemmen at Riverton Parish, followed by another 6 years at Rossmoyne caring for the elderly members. His final time in the West was back in Geraldton for another 7 years in the Aboriginal Ministry. He returns a little worse for wear. Two years ago he found he was having some difficulties with his early morning walks on the beach. After a MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) it was discovered that some brain cells had dropped out due to radiation therapy he received 35 years ago. This surprised the doctors because such a thing would normally happen in the first 5 years after the treatment. This left him unable to drive. But with the help of Br. Barry Hall he was able to continue in the Aboriginal Ministry. In January of this year he had another turn which reveals its full extent when he slipped over during Mass at Beachland in Geraldton. After a week in hospital it was decided that he should return to Melbourne. Kelvin in now quietly settling into his new surroundings at 85 Studley Park Road in Kew.

Remembering - specially:

Fr. Walter Silvester, who died on 24th March, 2005

Fr. Eddie Wehrmaker, whose first anniversary will be on 2nd May and

Maureen Rath, who died on Palm Sunday, 9th April 2006.

50th Jubilee of the Consecration of Br. Ludwig Gunter SAC

Br. Wim van Veen tells us about this special occasion:     Thank you, Br. Wim.

A special surprise for Br. Ludwig was the arrival, a few days before ‘the event’, of Maria Rohr. Maria’s intention to come and help with the celebrations was known only to me (Br. Wim) and Gerry Duck. Typically, Br. Ludwig let everyone know that he wanted a simple celebration, no big fuss and no speeches and sermons.

Frs. Bryan Tiernan (from Rossmoyne) and John Luemmen (Riverton Parish) came up a day early. The next day, 30th November, the others arrived. Frs. Ray Hevern and Joe Butscher came from Rossmoyne, Fr. John Flynn from Riverton and from Geraldton, Frs. Gerard Christoph and Kelvin Kenny and Brother Barry Hall. Barry looked after the music and printed out the songs for the Mass. Marinus Jans came from the nearby Christian Brothers and, of course, Br. John Phillis of the Tardun community joined wholeheartedly in the celebration.

At 12.30pm, the Jubilee Mass began, concelebrated by six priests, During the Mass, all the priests and brothers present joined the Jubilarian in the renewal of the Act of Commitment. It was the simple ceremony that Br. Ludwig wanted but very effective. The music said it all -‘The Lord is my Shepherd’, ‘Instruments of your Peace’, ‘New Hope’.

After Mass, everyone drifted to the main building. Fortunately the temperature was only 28 deg. Four days earlier it had been 40deg! The tables in the dining room were attractively decorated and, during the meal, many stories were told. Br. Ludwig was right into that.

 A little about Br. Ludwig and his fellow brothers.

He made his first profession at Limburg on 30th November 1956 with seven other brothers. Three of them went to South Africa: Werner Vogel in 1962 and Helmut Halbe in 1967. Br. Helmut Muller also went to South Africa where he left the Society after some years. The others - Brs. Josef Wolff, Gerhard Seeboth and Wilhelm Stahl all worked in Limburg. Br. Werner died in South Africa in 1994 –after more than 30 years there. Br. Josef Wolff died in 1968 in Limburg.

Brother Ludwig himself came to Australia in1962 with Fr. Heinrich Rohr. He first worked on the farm and in the workshop in Tardun, then in Beagle Bay for many years. He came ‘east’ then, to Pallotti College, Millgrove where he did maintenance and worked on the farm. When he returned to Western Australia it was to Tardun to the workshop, with special responsibility for the water supply. His skills are still needed and used there.

Four brothers from that ‘class’ of 1956 are still alive. Helmut Halbe, Gerhard Seeboth and Wilhelm Stahl. They had a  celebration in Limburg.

Congratulations!! Thank you to you all, especially to our own Br. Ludwig!!

A note from the editress: I got to know Br. Ludwig at Millgrove. It was comforting for me — and for others — that if a car refused to start, it was soon ‘brought to life’ by Br.Ludwig’s skill. That is not to mention all the other ways in which he was Mr. Fixit.    Thank you, Brother.

I remember also some good advice when I was planning to travel in Germany. ‘You must journey along the Romantische Strasse’, he told me. That was backed up with good advice about where to start etc and I’ve always been grateful that I experienced that wonderful part of Germany.

A Thank You to Father Paul and the Pallottine Family  by  Lorenzo Erle 

It is true that most people don’t know how well off they are until something happens to change the situation. Then we realize how lucky they have been.  It is a very sad state of affairs that priests are in short supply and, consequently, ‘worth their ‘weight in gold.’ And a gold strike is what we, of the Sacred Heart parish of the Upper Yarra Valley , would have to experience in order to keep our much loved Father Paul Manickathan of the Pallottine family, with us.

I have been part of this parish for some 12 years now and I have seen how much the Pallottine family has been called on to help with Masses when our parish priest was on holidays or to be part of special occasions such as feast days. But, of course, this could not continue forever and we had to say good-bye to Father Paul after the three year ‘loan’ from the Pallottine Family.

We are now sharing the services of a priest from a neighbouring parish. It will take some time for us to adjust to the fact that some services have had to be reduced and we do not have a priest in full-time residence.

This letter is a heartfelt thank you to the Pallottine family from very grateful community for their unselfish help throughout the years. We hope that, from time to time, we will see their smiling faces in the churches of the Sacred Heart Parish of the Upper Yarra Valley.

A note from the editress.  Thank you, Lorenzo.  Lorenzo is currently the chairperson of the Leadership Committee of the Sacred Heart parish of Upper Yarra Valley.  He mentioned in his accompanying note to me that a long-term parishioner had instigated this contribution to the Pallottine Family newsletter. That person and some other ‘long term’ residents also reminded him of the time the parish was cared for by another Pallottine priest, Fr. John Hennessy. He specially wanted to assure Fr. John how much his love and service was appreciated.

QUEEN OF APOSTLES  -  SATURDAY, 26TH MAY. 

Necessarily, ‘low key’ because there are so many things on about this time.

If you can make it, come to 85 Studley Park Rd. for
Evening Prayer at 4.30pm, and stay for a nibble and a drink!  No need to reply, just COME AS YOU ARE.

The MYSTERY of the RESURRECTION
presented by Dr  MICHAEL  JACKSON

Saturday, 24th March 9am—3pm .      Donation $15

St. Christopher’s Parish, Doon Ave, Syndal
Book:  : phone: 9802 8538 
E mail frp.jackson@sybdalcatholic.org.au

PALLOTTINE YOUTH ENCOUNTER

On February 23-25 Weekend a group of young people and young-at-heart supporters gathered at Casa Pallotti in Millgrove to plan for the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney from the 13 - 20 July.  During the weekend at Casa we got in touch with the person of St. Vincent Pallotti, his life and times, and the spirit and experience of the life-giving, loving God that motivated him.  It was a combination of prayer and reflection with a good dose of logistical planning for what is to be the biggest Catholic Youth event for Australia.

Our next step will be to form Committees to take responsibility for the various areas such as hospitality, catering, outreach, billeting, etc. for up to 400 pilgrims for the period leading up to the WYD week in Sydney.

The dates for the Pallottine Youth Encounter are as follows:

PYE will commence at the Pallottine Community (Millgrove), before moving to St Christopher’s Syndal:

Pallottine community at Millgrove:                 4th –   9th July 2008
St Christopher’s Parish Syndal:                    9th – 13th July 2008
WYD in Sydney:                                            13th – 20th July 2008

The tasks are numerous but as Fr. Pat said, “excitement towards what will be a fantastic event is high”.  We are in need of people who will volunteer time and effort towards creating a wonderful faith experience for our youth.

We are currently in the process of building a profile of all our resources, both material and personal.  So if you wish to be actively involved in PYE please print and fill in the form below and return to
Fr. Pat Jackson
St. Christopher’s Church,
5 Doon Ave,
Syndal, VIC 3150
OR fax him on 03 9886 1144.

On behalf of Fr. Pat and the PYE Team I thank you in anticipation,

Fr. Eugene San

 Name: _________________________ Email:    _________________

Address:________________________________________

Tel:  ____________________   Mobile: ___________________ 

Age on July 1, 2008 

o 16-17    o 18–25    o 26–35     o 36–45    o 46-55    o 56+

I am interested in: (please tick) o  Team Formation

Last Tuesday, March 13th, world renowned peace activist, Fr. John Dear SJ, spend the day at our house in Kew running a retreat on the theme of “Exploring Gospel Non-violence”.

On April 3, 1968, the night before his assassination, Dr. King told thousands of people at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee: “For years now, we have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can we just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and non-violence; it is non-violence or non-existence.”

“Non-violence or non-existence.” That is the choice.  So how do we become non-violent??  According to John Dear one of the ways is to get our hearts in order.  The more we purify our inner lives, the more our lives will serve God’s work to end war, poverty and injustice.  We must allow God to disarm our hearts that we may share in God’s disarmament of the world.

He also spoke passionately about one of his heroes, 'Mohandas Gandhi’, who spend 48 years of his life rising 4am each morning for an hour’s meditation, then followed by another hour later in the evening.  Gandhi meditated especially on Ch. 5 and 6 of Mathew’s Gospel.  Perhaps, Gandhi's greatest legacy for Christians is that he encourages us to be more authentic followers of Christ.  For Gandhi, the Sermon on the Mount was a clarion call to active non-violence, in Jesus’ words, not to offer violent resistance to evil but to love one’s enemies.  Gandhi, held that Jesus was the greatest practitioner of active non-violence in history, from his teachings and actions to his martyrdom on the cross.

Our response too has to be like that of Jesus.  It is neither fight nor flight but the third option of non-violence: creative, active, peaceful resistance to injustice. We stand up and resist wars and all forms of violence with creative love, trusting in the God of peace.

Non-violence begins in our hearts, where we renounce the violence inside ourselves, and then move out with active, contagious non-violence toward our families, communities, churches, cities, nation and the world.

Let us pray in the words of our founder St. Vincent Pallotti for the transformation of our lives that we may:

“become food to feed the hungry, clothing to cover the naked, drink to quench the thirsty, spirits for the stomachs of the weak, a soft bed for the repose of the tired limbs of the weary, medicine and health for the sick, light for the blind” 

“Lord Jesus, make me empty of my very self and fill me with yourself.  May my life be destroyed and your life be my life.”

May the Peace of Christ reign in our hearts and our lives.

Eugene San sac

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