Erin Gordon at work in the garden, proving that being a lay missionary is more than a job. It is a calling

0 God, you gave the Holy Spirit
 to the apostles,
 as they gathered with Mary
 in the cenacle.
Grant that Spirit also to us,
that we may be completely
 consecrated to the
service of the gospel,
 and announce to all
 your wondrous deeds of love.
 We ask this through
 Christ our Lord.

LAY MISSIONARY NEWS

At the start of the year: Three Lay missionaries volunteered for various lengths of time: Erin Gordon, Kim Bristow and Fabian Wolf. One Volunteer in the city was Brian Worcester from our parish at Syndal. Kim wrote, "What an experience I'm having here - challenging and very different from anything I've done before. I've got eight students doing years 10-12. which keeps me busy. Erin is brilliant - the little girls love her." Permanent members of the staff are Bill Boyer, Ken and Lori Rowlinson and Dawn Jackson and many long-term members, Gerry Duck, Maurice Newgie and Colleen Drage and of course, our Pallottine Brothers, Ludwig, John and Wim.

CHANGES AFOOT

As you know, Fr Ray Hevern is the new Regional superior of the Pallottines, with Fr Dean Bradbury and Br Eddie Wishart as consultors. Fr Michael McMahon completed a marathon effort of nine years and deserves a well-earned break. There is a great deal of readjustment with Fr Ray now become Provincial of the Pallottines and a number of lay missionaries finishing up after a period of generous service: Christine Scholz, Wolffgang Schussler, Denis Homa, Andrea Thirok and Tina de Groot, Fabian Wolf and Kim Bristow.

Thank you all for your great contribution to Wandalgu. New lay missionaries are Christina Plantek and Aileeen Larkins. Please keep them in your prayers as they take on their new role. Fr Ray's appointment has speeded up the process toward lay leadership at Wandalgu, Tardun, that has been prepared for over many years. Paul Hotton has assumed the management role and is doing a mighty job.

CASA PALLOTTI

The Casa Committee of adults and young adults under the able leadership of Richard Gooden, (Denise Fricker, Steve Monda and Davan, Gerard and Ross Pidoto and Jane Frances and so many others), has been working very hard, doing repairs, cleaning up, and getting the centre ready for retreats, camps, family groups and schools. March was totally booked, April and May filling up, so Casa is off to a good start. AI Wanders and Bernadette Douglas now manage Casa Pallotti on behalf of the Committee and have made great changes already. There's more to look forward to in 2002. The interim committee the Friends of Casa Pallotti will now cease and a Board of Management will be elected, but we still need the support and ideas of all who made a commitment at the UAC Congress in April 2001.

A joint auction on May 18-19 raised about $1,000.00 for Casa. Lauri Hilakari, Gerard Pidoto, Jane Frances and Patrick Gooden and many Pallotti youth were the movers and shakers with the Lions Club and the CFA Warrandyte.

NAB GRANT

CONGRATULATIONS TO DAVAN PIDOTO
who was awarded top citizen of Maroondah during the 2002 Australia Day awards. He is part of a new management team that organises camps for disabled children and has been an instrumental part of E.V.'s youth centre in Ringwood. Davan has launched his own part-time business recording bands and solo artists from the local area.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT KEW

• May 11th was the 50th anniversary of the Marian Shrine at Kew which was a vibrant centre of apostolic formation for fourteen male and female young adult groups. In the shrine many young adults made a consecration to Mary for the apostolate. This was the inspiration for the Mariana community, the Pallottine Lay Missionary movement, and the early beginnings of Millgrove.

• Kew Men's Breakfast, held on the first Wednesday of the month, has taken as its theme "a little shelter, a friendly fire, some company under the bridge" (from Paul Kelly's song) for men who are on a journey. It is a wonderful group of men who meet 7.00-8.30am. Why not join us?

FAREWELL TO MIKE AND BERNIE McIVOR
AND THEIR FAMILY  in recognition of their 14 years of generous service at Casa Pallotti and holding the vision until the new team has come along. Mike at the UAC Congress felt that the baton had been passed to others who were inspired by St Vincent Pallotti's vision. The farewell will be decided when Fr Pat gets back from America on July 12th.

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Do not give up working for peace. Always remember her that the peace for which you work is not of this world. Do not let yourself be distracted by the great noises of war, the dramatic descriptions of misery, and the sensational expressions of human cruelty. The newspapers, films and war novels may make you numb, but they do not create in you a true desire for peace. They tend to create feelings of shame, guilt and powerlessness, and these feelings are the worst motives for peace work.

Keep your eyes on the prince of peace, the one who doesn't cling to his divine power; the one who refuses to turn stones into bread, jump from great heights and rule with great power. See the one who touches the lame, the crippled and the blind; the one who speaks words of forgiveness and encouragement; the one who dies alone, rejected, and despised. Keep your eyes on him who becomes poor with the poor, weak with the weak, and who is rejected with the rejected. That one, Jesus, is the source of all peace.

Where is his peace to be found? The answer is surprising but it is clear. In weakness. Few people are telling us this truth, but there is peace to be found in our own weakness, in those places of our hearts where we feel most broken, most insecure, most in agony, most afraid. Why there? Because in our weakness our familiar ways of controlling and manipulating our world are being stripped away and we are forced to let go from doing much, thinking much, and relying on our self-sufficiency. Right there where we are most vulnerable, the peace that is not of this world is mysteriously hidden.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Finding My Way Home
(Darton, Longman & Todd, 2001)

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• Syndal Men's Breakfasts are on the third Wednesday of the month, 7.00-8.30am and have been good times of sharing. Last time we were given a brief but in-depth insight into Brian Incigneri's thesis on Mark's Gospel. There's tremendous talent in our own local community.

• Cenacle Nights of Prayer and Healing are held every 22nd of the month 8.00-9.00pm at St Christopher's, Syndal. These nights convince me of the significance and power of prayer. To pray directly for all who ask, (and especially as a community), bears fruit when we do it in faith not relying on our own powers, but on the Holy Spirit. Vincent Pallotti prayed thanking God already for what God was doing in this person or situation.

• Gippsland Outreach led by Sr Joy and the Family of God is the First Saturday of the month.

• Prayer Guides meet on the Second Saturday of each month at Syndal, 2-4.00pm.

Future happenings at Syndal are the Family Dance and Entertainment on June 15th, September 7th and October 19th. The Monash Chorale will sing in St Christopher's Sunday, August 18th 2-5pm. The Family of God are hosting a Gospel Concert on September 13th, on the eve of the Triumph of the Holy Cross and the anniversary of the New York Terrorist attack.

AT PALLOTTI COLLEGE, MILLGROVE

Friday, August 30th-September 1st, there is our UAC Pallottine Weekend: the theme is "How can world religions work together for peace?" We hope to have Judge Christie Weeramantry, a World Court Judge from the Hague and other representatives from world religions to speak. Judge Weeramantry, a Catholic, has set up an institute for the specific purpose of dialogue with world religions for peace.

IN POLAND, the Pallottine family are holding an INTERNATIONAL UAC CONGRESS in 2003 on the theme: "Now is the time for a new creativity in charity." The Australian UAC coordinating group wanted also to include: "the way of being church in the new millennium."

ON THE MOVE!!! Congratulations to Denise Lacey who is giving a paper in Washington on "Smart Marriages: the Australian Contribution."  Fr Eugene San will be traveling to All Hallows, Dublin, for a well deserved sabbatical in the area of pastoral leadership. And I will be going to Cleveland, Ohio, for my cousin's wedding and later to New Jersey to take part in the Pallottine Sisters' Workshop exploring the Pallottine charism, and using "Empowered By Love" as a basic text.

In the archdiocese of Melbourne a new pastoral focus begins on May 24th: "Contemplate - Launch Out" The basis of any lasting mission is a living relationship with Jesus which can only come from spending time with him, looking at him and learning the desires and designs of his heart. It is a theme very dear to the heart of Vincent Pallotti - to discover ourselves created in the image of infinite Love which carries an obligation to love as God loves.

I hope we can keep in touch. There may be a number of issues in the VIA that you respond to. As well as all the action take time to pray, to reflect alone, and may the peace of Jesus be with you. I will be thinking of you when I am on holiday. Please pray for me for a safe journey.
God Bless you all.

Fr Pat