By Colin Coomber

THE image most peoplehave of a hermit is proba-bly that of a wizened sagesitting in rags at the mouthof a cave near the top of amountain.

It comes somewhat of a sur-prise to learn that Sale Diocesehas two hermits living a quietcontemplative life in a small set-tlement in Yarram parish.

Sr Martha and Sr Julian willtake their final vows as canonicalhermits in front of BishopChristopher Prowse at a 2pmMass in Yarram on October 2.

Hermits are recognised underCanon 603 which allows peopleto withdraw from the widerworld and enter an eremitic oranchoritic life of devotion,prayer and penance.

The hermit is recognised byCanon Law as one dedicated toGod in consecrated life which heor she must come before thediocesan bishop to publicly pro-fess to the three evangelicalcouncils, be confirmed by vow,and observe a proper program ofliving under the bishop’s direc-tion.

Needless to say, there arebelieved to be only a handful ofsuch hermits in Australia.

What makes the faith journeyof Srs Martha and Julian evenmore remarkable is that both areconverts to the Catholic faith.

They met in England where SrMartha lived for 22 years. Bornin Kalgoorlie and raised inMelbourne, she was an Anglicanand for a time worked atCanterbury Cathedral where shelooked after the choir boys.

English-born Sr Julian profess-es to having little faith beforemeeting Sr Martha.

She had worked for more than30 years in the nursing profes-sion and had been increasinglydisillusioned with the rat race.They worked for a time togetherat the same school in the northof England and when Marthadecided to return to Australia,

Julian emigrated with her.It was Julian who was first

invited to an evening discussionabout the Catholic faith throughthe Rite of Christian Initiationof Adults. Martha was hesitantbecause of her Anglican

upbringing but after muchprayer, decided to accompanyher friend.

They were welcomed into theChurch at Pambula parish on theNSW south coast and remainfirm friends with Fr Michael

Mullen, now a priest atNarooma.

Their faith journey took a fur-ther turn when they visited theBenedictine Abbey at Jamberooin the escarpment country westof Wollongong in 2001 and

stayed for a time in one of thecottages attached to the abbey.

This abbey was featured in theABC four-part documentaryseries The Abbey which screenednationally last year.

• Continued Page 2

Publication of the Diocese of Sale ISSUE 100 NovemberPublication of the Diocese of Sale ISSUE 143 September 2010

FFRREEEE

Please help families in needThe Bishop’s Family Foundation assists families within Sale Diocese

by providing funding to various charities. Please help us continue our good work by donating generously. Send donations to:

Bishop’s Family Foundation, PO Box 508, Sale 3853BISHOP’S FAMILY

FOUNDATION

Hermits in modern world

What’sNews

Plans torestore

cathedral- Page 14

Regional award toCath. Life

- Page 3

N. Warren30 years of

parish- Page 5

Catholic LifeCatholic Life

SR Martha (left) and Sr Julian in the peaceful garden setting at Peregrini Hermitage in Yarram parish. The exact location of the hermitage andtheir phone number is deliberately not publicised to stop an inquiring world from intruding on their contemplative lifestyle.

• From Page 1They became Benedictine

oblates in 2002 and eventually in2004 went to live on the abbeyproperty to seek God and servethe abbess and community in anyway thought to be appropriateand helpful.

With the generosity of the lateAbbess Mother BenedictaPhillips OSB and her successorAbbess Mary Barnes OSB, theywere able to become part of theBenedictine praying communitywithout become part of the

enclosed order.They served the community by

cooking in the kitchen, finding itextremely hard to maintain thestrict daytime silence of theabbey while trying to turn outmeals in a busy kitchen.

In 2007 they made temporaryvows as canonical hermits underthe rule of St Benedict beforeBishop of Wollongong, PeterIngham.

Finally in 2009 they decided tomake the inevitable move awayfrom the abbey and back into a

parish before they became tooold to cope with the trauma ofmoving and re-establishingthemselves as hermits.

At the height of the globaleconomic crisis a lot of smallweekender cottages becameavailable cheaply in SouthGippsland and so they acquiredone which has become their her-mitage, now known as PeregriniHermitage.

Their hermitage is a simplehome, comfortable, yet furnishedwith the bare minimums.

They return to Jamberoo forretreats from time to time andboth feel as if they are “goinghome.”

Sr Julian said they wouldalways remember with huge grat-itude the formative time theyspent at the abbey with all theinstruction and spiritual guid-ance they received there.

The opportunity to share inthe prayer life of the enclosedcommunity for almost five yearswas of great benefit.

The difficult decision to leaveJamberoo had been softened bythe warm welcome given to themby Bishop Prowse who hadagreed to become their ecclesialhead.

In accepting their presence inthe diocese, Bishop Prowse hasstressed to them to remain a con-templative presence and not tobecome heavily involved in theparish.

Since moving to Victoria 12months ago they have managedto limit their involvement topreparing a few meals for theparish freezer for parish priest FrJacob Thadathil and beinginvolved in the scripture group.

When they make their perpetu-al vows at St Mary’s, Yarram onOctober 2, they will be joined byFr Mullen and Fr Henry Byrne,the retired parish priest ofBateman’s Bay who have bothplayed lead roles in guiding thehermits.

They will concelebrate Masswith Bishop Prowse and FrThadathil.

Fittingly the vows will be takenon the Feast of Guardian

Angels. Srs Martha and Julianboth believe that their prayerfulpresence in the diocese willenable them to be guardianangels for the clergy and peopleof the diocese.

They rise early for a period ofprayer before breakfast and thenspend time in contemplationwith Sr Martha usually takingquiet time as she walks her dogthrough a nearby forest track.

Then follows a work period,cooking meals to put in thefreezer, Sr Martha developingthe garden and Sr Julian paint-ing icons.

Lectio divina precedes lunchand then they call to mind all thepeople they have been called topray for.

Afternoons are spent reading,followed by a period of medita-tion, often with Benedictineabbey music quietly playing.

Dinner is the main meal of theday, then the hermits try towatch SBS news so they can keepabreast of what is happening inthe world so it can be introducedinto their prayers.

They go to bed early, usuallyreading in their rooms for a peri-od before lights out.

Sr Martha said their life ofwork and prayer was a satisfyingone.

Sr Julian interjects “We putourselves in the presence ofGod, be still, seek silence and thesolitude of God.”

They nod in agreement whenSr Julian adds that they weregood examples of never beingtoo old to make a commitmentto God.

Page 2 - Catholic Life, September 2010

I do not fear tomorrow, for I have seen today

Catholic LifePO Box 183, Sale Vic 3853

Phone: (03) 5144 6132Fax: (03) 5144 3855

catholiclife@sale.catholic.org.auwww.sale.catholic.org.au

Published by Catholic MediaGippsland,

Diocese of Sale, 8 Pearson St., SalePrinted by Latrobe Valley Express,

Morwell.Editor: Colin Coomber

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& Australasian Religious PressAssociation

Published monthly except January.Deadline for advertising copy andcontributions for the next issue is

Monday, October 4.Issues distributed free through schools

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THE Divine Retreat Centre is thebiggest Catholic retreat venue in theworld. It is located in Kerala,Southern India.

For over 20 years, it has been con-ducted by the Vincentian Fathers, anindigenous congregation in Kerala.They took over a Catholic hospital,called Divine, and created a retreatvenue that can accommodate up to20,000 retreatants! The talks aregiven in seven languages offeredsimultaneously.

The Divine Retreat Centre has itsown railway station, medical clinic,orphanage, HIV/AIDS hospice,school, bible college, TV station,dairy farm and hospice for the men-tally challenged.

In recent times, I was honored to beinvited to offer some talks at their 5thInternational Youth and CouplesConference. For years, I have heardfrom the Indian ‘diaspora’ inAustralia of the ‘genius’ of Divine.

For so many, it is a ‘Home ofConversion’ to Jesus Christ, fullyalive in the Catholic Church. So Iwas delighted to offer some contribu-tion. They were long days. Startingat 6.30am and concluding at 10pmdaily; four conferences were heldsimultaneously - for youth, for cou-ples, for younger teenagers and foryoung boys and girls.

Whilst in Kerala, I was delighted tomeet the parents of two Indian semi-narians who wish to commit their

entire lives as priests in the Diocese ofSale. One is already at CorpusChristi College (Siju MukalekalayilXavier) and the other will hopefullyjoin him soon (Avinash George).

I also met the families of two ofour priests from India: Fr Jacob(Foster/Yarram) and Fr Matthew(Leongatha/Korumburra). On yourbehalf, I thanked the parents for giv-ing their sons to us. They weretouching encounters. They are alloutstanding men.

At the same time, I continued aconversation I had begun somemonths ago with the Provincial of theVincentians regarding the possibilityof sending one of his priests to servein our diocese. I am so pleased toinform you that my request hasreceived a favorable response.

I was able to get to know theVincentian Fathers in Kerala. Intouring some of their pastoral apos-tolate, it is clear that in conductingretreat centres and parish and educa-tional facilities, they are making awonderful contribution to Catholiclife. Being blessed with plentifulvocations to the priesthood, they areopen to sending their priests overseastoo.

Likewise, I was able to make con-tact with the biggest religious orderin India - the Carmelites of Mary

Immaculate (CMI). They are a mostimpressive congregation with enor-mous talent and zeal in their midst.Since I have returned to the diocese Ihave heard from their Provincial.After discussions with his advisors,he would like to offer two of hispriests for service in our diocese.Thanks be to God!

May I stress, once again, the primeimportance of praying for vocationsto the priesthood and religious life inthe Diocese of Sale. It is one of ourtop prayer intentions. I see the richharvest of six priests and one semi-narian coming to the Diocese of Saleas a result of my visits to Africa andIndia a direct result of our prayersfor vocations. Thank you for yourintercessory prayers.

It will be wonderful to welcomenew priests from overseas to our dio-cese over the next year. But wonder-ful too would be to accept local voca-tions to the priesthood and religiouslife from the soil of Gippsland.

Parish and family prayer for voca-tions are highly recommended.Families, schools and parishes are to‘call forth’ vocations from ourCatholic ‘womb’.

Priestly vocations are a responsibil-ity before God for all of us. Let usrespond with eagerness and zeal.

Heavenly Father, grace us withan increase in vocations to the

priesthood and religious life.May the entire Diocese of Saleoffer prayers and hospitality tothose who feel called to a religiousvocation.Mary, Mother of Vocations, weentrust this special intention intoyour maternal care.We make this prayer throughChrist, our Lord, Amen.

+ Bishop Christopher ProwseCatholic Bishop of Sale

To God’s people in the Catholic Diocese of SaleIndia: Simply divine’

Hermits living quietly in the modern world

CATHOLIC Life has again beenjudged the best regional religiouspublication in Australia andNew Zealand.

Editor Colin Coomber waspresented with the award at theannual conference of theAustralasian Religious PressAssociation in Hobart last week.

It is the third time CatholicLife has won the award sincebeing established as a free dioce-san newspaper in 1997.

The other wins were in 2004and 2007, and it was also runner-up in 2005 and 2008.

The judges commented: “Agood regional publicationreflects both the joys and sor-rows of its community. Thisyear’s winner had both sides ofthe coin to contend with – thetragedy of the bushfires and anew bishop. This publication isconsistently a good read withplentiful stories about the ordi-nary people as well as thoseabout the local Church’s moversand shakers.

“The broad spectrum of arti-cles includes a “bush telegraph”style of column and a local his-tory column, as well as all thebasic elements of a publicationstriving to successfully serve itsregion.”

The latest award continues theremarkable success of CatholicLife which has received 17awards over the past 13 years,including four times beingjudged best regional publication

by the Australasian CatholicPress Association.

It also won an ARPA bestregional publication award in2003 on behalf of The GippslandAnglican which it edited for sev-eral years when the AnglicanDiocese of Gippsland had no-one to edit its publication.

The name Catholic Life hasbeen synonymous with highjournalistic standard for morethan 20 years as its predecessor,the small circulation SaleCatholic Life, won the ARPAbest regional publication awardthree times between 1990 and1995 when it closed.

At the awards dinner at theWoolstore Hotel, guest speakerwas Fr Michael Tate, parishpriest of Sandy Bay.

He entertained the large crowdwith stories of his life which sawhim switch allegiance from theLiberal Party to Labor as ayoung man because of his paci-fist beliefs.

Eventually his association withthe ALP led him into politicsand he was elected a senator in1977.

He served as Justice Ministerfrom 1987-93 under Hawke andKeating Governments beforeresigning in 1993.

Prime Minister Paul Keatinghad suggested he wanted youngmen in the Senate, even thoughMichael Tate was only 47 at thetime.

After retiring he was appoint-

ed Ambassador to theNetherlands and the Holy See.

Fr Tate said this suited himbecause he had always had agrerat interest in the law and theChurch.

His Netherlands Ambass-adorship gave him access to theInternational Courts at The

Hague it was during his termthat prosecutions were launchedagainst former Serbia andYugoslav president SlobodanMilosevic, the first time a headof state had ever been prosecutedfor war crimes.

On resigning as ambasador tothe Holy See in 1996 he met with

Pope John Paul II to formallyadvise him and managed to sur-prise the pope when he told himthat he intended to study for thepriesthood.

When ordained in 2000, FrTate proved that politics and reli-gion can mix.

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 3

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

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 AustralianSecurities and Investments Commission. Deposits with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale are guaranteed by CDPF Limited, a company established by theAustralian Catholic Bishops Conference for this purpose. We welcome your investment with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale rather than with a profit ori-entated commercial organisation as a conscious commitment by you to support the Charitable, Religious and Educational works of the Catholic Church. Neither theCatholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale nor the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Sale are prudentially supervised by theAustralian Prudential Regulation Authority; contributions to the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale do not obtain the benefit of the depositor protection provi-sions of the Banking Act 1959; the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale is designed for investors who wish to promote the charitable purposes of the CatholicDiocese of Sale.

The Catholic Development FundServing the Diocese of Sale

From the Mountains to the SeaCDF is supporting our

Parishes, Schoolsand Catholic Communities

Catholic Life topregional religiouspaper in Australasia

CATHOLIC Life editor Colin Coomber (centre) proudly displays the newspaper’s latest award with guestspeaker Fr Michael Tate (left) and Australasian Religious Press Association president Captain PeterMcGuigan of the Salvation Army..

Newborough administratorFR Stephen Onuoha has beenappointed administrator of StMary’s Parish, Newborough,replacing Fr Mark Godridgewho becomes assistant atBairnsdale Parish.

Fr Onuoha is a Nigerian priestwho has been in Sale Diocesesince April last year, serving asassistant at Bairnsdale.

He was been a priest for 31years in Nigeria before comingto Australia.

He takes up his appointmentat Newborough this weekend.

Fr Stephen Onuoha

I RECENTLY received an emailfrom my daughter who is study-ing in Bosnia.

On the 15th anniversary of themassacre of thousands of menand boys, she joined thousandsof people, including survivors ofthe 1995 Srebrenica massacre,on a symbolic three-day 120kmmarch along the route of thefinal journey for those victims.She sent a message about theoldest participant in the march.

I believe he was a survivor ofthe original ‘death march’. Thepeace march commemorates thetens of thousands of men andboys who fled into the moun-tainside surrounding Srebrenicato try to make it to Tuzla.

Thousands of them wereslaughtered on the way andburied in mass graves. This manwalked the entire 110km routethrough the mountains with awalking cane and wearing hissuit the entire time.

I thought you may appreciatehis quiet dignity and strength.Against a background of hun-dreds of teenage boys dressed inarmy fatigues, carrying huntingknives and shouting war cries,this man really stood out in spiteof his silence.

Silence is powerful. Silencecan be infinitely deeper, moreunderstanding, more compas-sionate than words. It can carryits own message. Silence doesspeak louder than words, andsometimes much more deeply.

Often it takes much morestrength to be silent than tospeak.

People, intent on revenge,came to test Jesus. They broughtwith them a woman caught inadultery and they wanted toexact the maximum penalty –stoning the accused to death.

What should they do, theyasked Jesus, not out of anydesire to be merciful but to testhim. Jesus’ response - silence.Such a powerful silence that theaccusers left.

Pontius Pilate, who had powerover Jesus’ life or death, was metwith the same response. Silence.Pilate was completely confused,astounded, even afraid. Silenceis a powerful message.

Jesus often took periods ofprayerful silence. He started Hispublic ministry with 40 days ofsuch silence. We are told that“Jesus often withdrew to lonelyplaces.” (Luke 5:16), taking timealone in silence to pray, to bewith his Father.

There is an often misunder-stood incident in Luke’s gospel(Luke 10:38-42) – the story ofJesus’ visit to Martha and Mary.Martha busies herself with car-

ing for the guests while Mary satand listened, absorbed by whatJesus is saying.

When Martha objected to thefact that she was left with all thework, Jesus told her to concen-trate on what was important.Rather than being a put-down, itwas a reminder that in the busy-ness of our lives, some times ofquiet, of silence to be with God,to hear God’s message is very,very important. It is often farmore powerful than words.

In those famous words inEcclesiastes, There is a time foreverything, and a season forevery activity under heaven... atime to be silent and a time tospeak... (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

My first experience of suchpowerful silence was my father.Life dealt him a tough hand –his wife, my mother, died sud-denly leaving him with eightyoung children. His eldest sonwas killed not 12 months later.

He was not blessed withwealth or great riches, only thefarm which required constantwork, constant busy-ness. Yetthere were times when he wassilent and you knew not to dis-turb him.

They were times that we knewhe was at prayer – in Micah’swords, he was walking humblywith God.

He was a man of deep faith.He found God where he was,sometimes on his knees, some-times in church but often in thepaddocks on the farm that hedeeply loved.

Silence is one way of express-ing our openness to God – notmaking God present but becom-

ing aware that God is alreadywalking with us.

There is a deep need in each ofus to find meaning, purpose,inner peace – a deep need forsilence.

Yet we are often afraid ofsilence, afraid of being alone,afraid of what we might meetthere. We feel we may be missingout on something.

We can often spend a lot ofenergy and time finding distrac-tions to fill in the silent spaces inour lives.

Yet, according to Benedictinemonk, Laurence Freeman, whoteaches Christian meditation allover the world, silence has a lib-erating power.

It opens us to the mystery oflife, to seeing things from God’sperspective rather than our ownlimited viewpoint, it opens us tothe power of faith that heals andraises us to love God and ourneighbor. It is truly transforma-tive.

Many people today, he sug-gests, have a deep spiritual thirstand hunger that in many ways isas urgent as the material needsof developing nations.

Unless affluent societiesescape the addiction to material-ism, they will be unable to feelthe depth of compassion fromwhich works of mercy and jus-tice spring.

That’s why silence is oftencalled the prayer of the heartand, as St Augustine says, thewhole purpose of this life is toopen the eye of the heart bywhich we see God.

Ref: Meditation and the Opening ofthe Heart by Laurence Freeman osb

Turnbulls

Page 4 - Catholic Life, September 2010

Step descentWE don’t usually highlight themistakes of others, becauseunfortunately we have a few slipthrough from time to time (seenext item) but we had to smileabout a press release emanatingfrom Parramatta CatholicEducation Office about a sec-ondary student heading toRome for the canonisation ofMary MacKillop.

It says the girl is a descendantof Mary MacKillop which isimpossible as Mary had no chil-dren from which this girl coulddescend.

Showing our slipNOW to own up to our ownblue in last month’s issue whereon Page 2 Bishop Prowse wroteabout there being 88 major sem-inaries in Otukpo Diocese inNigeria.

Of course it should have read88 major seminarians. It wasour fault in transcribing thebishop’s hand-written notes.

Signs of timesWE are sometimes amazed atjust how many signs we have onour roadsides.

Some tell us of traffic laws,others point to attractions ordistances to other centres, andsome are just there to bewilderus.

One patch of the PrincesHighway in West Gippsland hasa multitude of signs. One esti-mate is about 80 in a kilometreif you count both sides of thehighway.

There are speed signs and oth-ers with demands such as KeepLeft, Wrong Way Go Back,Cyclists Use Left Shoulder etcetc etc.

If we actually took the time toread each sign and digest themeaning we would not be pay-

ing attention to the road andwould probably hit anotherroad user or one of thoseRoadworks Ahead signs.

The companies which makesigns must be smiling all theway to the bank.

Advertising paysIT is always great to get feed-back from advertisers especiallywhen a car dealer tells us thatthe sale of two vehicles can bedirectly contributed to the com-pany’s advertisement inCatholic Life.

If you want to promote yourbusiness from Hallam to theNSW border, there’s only onepaper with such a reach andthat’s us.

Time for actionAND talking of things thatdrive on the road, we can’t waitfor the police to crack down onthe number of people driving‘gophers’ on the roadway, oftenagainst the traffic, when there’sa perfectly good footpath a fewmetres away.

We’ve encountered them in allsorts of weather, one with aboutfour cars crawling along behindwhich couldn’t pass because ofoncoming traffic. There was a3m wide footpath a few metresaway.

These battery powered vehi-cles are designed to be legallydriven on the footpaths butsome owners seem to have adeath wish by dicing with cars.

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The great power of silence

Reflectionsby Jim Quillinan

LOCH - The 10th annualHymnfest will be held onOctober 10 at 1.30pm in theLoch Village Public Hall SmithSt. Loch,

With a theme of “Celebrate”,it will be the finale of what hasbeen 10 wonderful years ofHymnfest in Loch.

Fitting the 10th anniversarywill be on the 10th day of the10th month.

Organisers would like toinvite all past members of thepublic who have supported thisannual event to join them in cel-ebrating the final Hymnfest.

They are in the process offinalising the program for guestartists. The community singingcomponent of the program will

be a variety of hymns andsongs they have sung from thelast nine years of Hymnfest andall are favorites.

Those in the community whohave previously experiencedHymnfest are asked to pleaseattend once again.

At the close of Hymnfestthose attending are asked toenjoy the wonderful countryafternoon tea and fellowshipand a final fond farewell.

All monies raised from the $6entry donation on the day will bedistributed back into the com-munity

Please contact Bev Button on5658 1406 or emailhymnfest@aapt.net.au to makegeneral enquiries.

The final Hymnfest

By Dina Delfino

NARRE WARREN - Our LadyHelp of Christians Parish, NarreWarren regularly honors thefeast days of Mary in specialways.

But the celebration on Sunday,August 15, on the occasion ofher Assumption exceeded theexpectations of even the organis-ers themselves as they paid trib-ute to 30 years of parish life.

Bishop Christopher Prowse ledthe congregation at Mass,reminding them of their duty tobe ambassadors of Jesus Christin daily life.

The Mass of unity was a dayto rejoice as the enriching diver-sity of different nationalitiessupported the feast by wearingtheir national costumes, carryingtheir flags and participating atcertain parts of the liturgy intheir languages.

As the statue of the Blessed

Mother was processed into thenewly-built Don Bosco schoolhall after Mass for enthrone-ment, she was greeted by athrong of about 2000 parish-ioners and visitors, who weretreated to some samplings ofinternational cuisine and a col-orful program that highlighted aharvest of talents from nativedances, songs to rock bands andmusical and poetic performanc-es.

Fr John Allen, parish priest forthe last 15 years was touched bythe planning, organisation anddelivery of the project which heentrusted to lay leaders of theparish.

This event has been the visionof pastoral associate Sr DoreenDagge for quite some time.

Assistant parish priest FrMathew Joseph TOR, DeaconPeter Stringfellow, Deacon TonyAspinall, the parish council andstaff supported the day with

prayers, guidance and hands-onhelp.

The launching of the parishmagazine was a significant high-light as readers walked through30 years of parish life with thenews stories and testimonies ofmembers who have made OLHCtheir spiritual home for years.

The sunny breaks and bucketsof rain during the day seemed toremind everyone that parishgrowth is very much a sharing ofjoys and pains, births and deaths,beginnings and endings and bothrealities can occur within oneday as part of the circle of life.

The event was powered byprayer, spirit of unity, generousinitiative and hard work of thewhole parish community, whowith much gratitude in theirhearts thanked God for 30 yearsof freedom in sharing, buildingand nurturing the Catholic faithas they joined the BlessedMother in her Magnificat: “TheAlmighty has done great thingsfor me, Holy is His Name!”

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 5

Narre Warren celebrates 30 years of parish life

PROCESSING into church for the 30th anniversary celebrations withcolorful floral garlands around their necks are (from left) Fr JohnAllen, Fr Mathew Joseph TOR, Deacon Peter Stringfellow, DeaconTony Aspinall and Bishop Christopher Prowse.

REPRESENTATIVES of the various ethnic groups in Our Lady Help of Christians parish display theirnational flags. There are more than 50 nationalities among parishioners.

A BOOK on St Mary’sCathedral Sale has been writtenby noted Sale historian PeterSynan.

Titled Three Springtimes:Chronicles of St Mary’sCathedral. Sale, it is currentlyat the printers and will belaunched in early November.

It is anticipated the hardbound book will sell for $40 acopy.

In the book Synan looks atthe three major developmentphases in the cathedral’s con-

struction.It is not an historical essay on

the cathedral, but rather anextensive pictorial journeythrough the life and times ofthe cathedral.

This makes it an ideal coffeetable book which will make agood Christmas present. It isexpected that copies will sellfast following the launch.

Catholic Life will publish anorder form in its October,November and Decemberissues.

New book on StMary’s Cathedral

WARRAGUL - Pastoral associ-ates, parish workers and reli-gious gathered in Warragul fromacross the diocese for a spiritual-ity day on Mary MacKillop onAugust 17.

Sr Lynette Young rsj, pastoralassociate in Wonthaggi and amember of the canonisationteam of the Sisters of St Joseph,presented the day on Celebratingthe Spiritual Heart of MaryMacKillop.

Through Sr Lynette’s skilful

presentations participants weregiven insights into Mary’s lovefor God, her passion for thepoor and her indomitablecourage, humility and compas-sion.

Through the day, they reflect-ed on this Australian womanimbued with good sense andhumor, one who faced the reali-ties of her era and followed hervision for spreading the goodnews of Jesus Christ to thosewho most needed her care.

Spirituality Day focuseson Mary MacKillop

“DATA Informed, Not DataDriven.” These words comefrom American writer DianneRavitch in her book, The Deathand Life of the Great AmericanSchool System. They warrantsome serious consideration.

I am sure, that, in coming days,the MySchool Website will befront and centre in the newsagain because, as I write this, theAustralian Curriculum Report-ing and Assessment Authority isabout to release the 2010NAPLAN results.

In recent weeks these tests havecome under severe public scruti-ny, with allegations of cheatingand suggestions that the teststhemselves contain errors.

The two allegations, whetherright or wrong, point to somefundamental problems with theway these tests are being used.NAPLAN tests are being used tocompare schools directly, (viathe MySchool Website) andthese comparisons are intendedto assist parents in choosing aschool for their children, and todetermine funding priorities.Both are deeply flawed purposes.

I certainly do not suggest thatwe should stop using tests suchas NAPLAN, but I do seriouslyquestion the use to which gov-ernments and the wider societyare putting them.

Quite simply, there are betterways to use what they tell us.

Tests are a critical part of edu-cation. They should (and do)provide firm data on which pro-fessional teachers can base theirwork.

They can (and do) tell schoolshow they are going, where theyneed to improve, what improve-

ments can be noted over time. They can (and are) used to

improve teaching at school andclassroom level. But when theyare used to compare schools, bygovernments and by parents,their usefulness is seriously com-promised, even damaged.

If they are used to compareindividual teachers (heaven helpus if that occurs!) their useful-ness is further harmed.

Let us consider the two allega-tions made about the tests,namely that there were errors inthe test themselves and thatcheating had occurred.

Firstly, does it really matter ifthere are minor mistakes in thetest papers? Are not all studentsexposed to identical errors? Onone level, it may not matter, buton a more fundamental level,these errors point clearly to thefact that the tests are an imper-fect means of measuring studentperformance.

They are developed by imper-fect human beings, in limited cul-tural contexts; they are complet-ed by imperfect students in quitedifferent cultural contexts; theresults are interpreted by imper-fect human beings in differentcultural contexts again. Marginfor error piles upon margin forerror.

Measurement in education isnot like measuring the length ofa piece of string or counting thenumber of widgets a factory pro-duces in a given time. The edu-cation process is about personsnot products and persons arenotoriously difficult to “meas-ure.”

Education is also about farmore than literacy and numera-

cy. It is about developing full,grounded human persons whocan live happy, fulfilling lives andmake a contribution to a bettersociety.

In many ways we are merelycopying the British system – butnot learning from its mistakes!We might well see NAPLAN testscores go up in coming years, butthe British evidence is that this isas teachers are forced to teach tothe tests because their perform-ance is being compared, thebroader aspects of real educa-tion are left to languish.

We need the tests, certainly,but for the use of schools, forschools to see how they are goingin these limited areas. However,when we are using them for pur-poses of comparison, we willquite probably see the test resultsimprove, but we run the very realrisk of seeing the quality of edu-cation in its truest sense falling.

A recent visitor to Australia,prominent educator ProfessorAlan Smithers fromBuckingham University, suggest-

ed that , “All the evidence is thatgovernments can do more toimprove education by doingless.”

It is interesting to note, forexample, that while test results inthe UK have improved, qualityof life on so many other scaleshas deteriorated.

Violence, substance abuse,teenage pregnancy, abortion, etc.are all on the increase in the UK.And, it might be noted that theUK economy is not thrivingeither.

The other allegation, that therewas cheating occurring, points toa different, though related, set ofissues. Of course, if fundingdepends on test scores, or ifschool reputation and prestigeare determined by test scores, itis almost to be expected thatschools and teachers will betempted.

That “cheating” can be of theblatant sort that sees teachersactively helping students duringthe actual tests (and there is noevidence of that occurring in our

schools), but it can also be of thesort that encourages certain stu-dents to stay at home on the dayof the tests.

It may even be of the sort thatsees a school refuse enrolment tostudents who may pull scoresdown! That would be in directconflict with our Catholic schoolmission and it is never an actiontaken by our schools.

However, principals remainjustifiably concerned that otherschools, against whom they areforced into a heightened sense ofcompetition by the MySchoolwebsite, may not share their viewof such matters.

Tests such as NAPLAN areimportant. They have their placeand schools embrace that. Butas a means of comparison ofschools in a way that determinesfunding or reputation, they arefundamentally flawed and arelikely to lead to a reduction inthe overall quality of educationin the country, even if the testscores themselves seem to showimprovement.

That has been shown so clear-ly in the countries Australia seemto be following.

Why cannot our decision mak-ers learn from the mistakes ofothers? Could it be just for aquick political fix?

Our education processes needto be data informed – not datadriven.

WARRAGUL - Marist-SionCollege school captain AndrewWilson has won the prestigiousAustralian Defence ForceAcademy education award.

It comes from his outstandingperformance during the lengthyapplication process to attend theAustralian Defence ForceAcademy as an officer in train-ing in 2011.

Andrew was presented with acertificate and laptop at a collegeassembly on August 19, by mem-bers of the Australian DefenceForce. Andrew is a very worthyrecipient of this award, havingbeen an army cadet for six yearsand during this time, progressingthrough to the rank of CadetUnder Officer. In 2009 Andrewwas named as Victorian Cadet ofthe Year and as a result, won atrip on the Young Endeavour.

In 2009 Andrew was alsoawarded the George CollinsKokoda Award, an all-expensespaid trek on the Kokoda Track.To receive this award, Andrewhad to have an interview andsubmit an essay on ‘TheMeaning of Kokoda to Himselfand Society.’

Andrew intends to complete aBachelor of Science Degree atthe academy, with the goal ofeventually becoming a helicopterpilot in the army. With Andrew’sdiligent approach to all aspectsof his study, we have no doubtthat he will succeed.

Well done on an amazingeffort Andrew; you are a creditto yourself and your family, andstaff and students at Marist-Sion College congratulate youand wish you well.

PHOTOGRAPH: Award recipi-ent Andrew Wilson (centre)flanked by Captain MatthewFord (left)and head of ADFArecruiting in Melbourne Sq.-Leader Michael Ward who pre-sented the award.

Page 6 - Catholic Life, September 2010

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By Carol Corby

DAVID Wells, the regular writerof this column, is off on extend-ed sick leave so it’s down to meto carry on in his absence.

I thought long and hard aboutwhat I would write about andrealised that David’s illness pro-vides a perfect excuse to jumponto one of my hobby horses –personal insurance.

Without getting into a greatmany statistics I can tell you thatAustralians are the most under-insured nation in the world!

Not for their cars, boats orhomes, but for themselves.

Interesting isn’t it that wewouldn’t dream of letting thekids drive around uninsured, norwould we do so ourselves but wegive very little thought to pro-tecting the source of all ourassets, lifestyle and future – our-

selves.David’s illness is a particularly

apt example at the moment as hewill be off work for the next cou-ple of months. Fortunately itisn’t life threatening but thatmakes very little difference to thebottom line if you aren’t gettingpaid but the bills keep coming in.David has income protectionthat will ensure he can pay thebills but most people don’t.

Both David and I practicewhat we preach in this regard.We are both insured because weboth have a spouse, a mortgage ,a credit card etc and would hateto think that our illness or deathwould leave a huge burden forthe people we leave behind.

And of course you’re notalways leaving them behind; itcan be a situation where you maybe disabled for a lengthy periodor perhaps even forever. That’sbad news and the shame of it is

that it is easily and reasonablycheaply addressed.

In our line of work, as stock-brokers and financial planners,we find people are content totake on extra debt, whether it bea draw down on the mortgage, acar or other major expense, evenborrowing to invest but veryrarely think about how thesethings will be paid for if they canno longer work.

We have seen unhappy out-comes too many times to ignorethe fact that bad things do hap-

pen, people do get sick, peopledo die and it can make a distress-ing situation even more so ifsomeone has to start worryingabout money.

The bottom line is this - If youhave debt or if you have depen-dants then you need to ensurethat this is covered. There aremany eventualities that canknock you out of the workforcefor a while and it doesn’t neces-sarily have to be anything worsethan a badly broken arm.

I can tell you that one of myclients was a dairy farmer whosearm was broken by a particular-ly rambunctious cow ! He was inplaster for over six months andhad to employ a man to assist

with the milking. That could have been paid for

by simple income protection.Instead he was out of pocket tothe tune of a considerable sumby the time he was back at work.Food for thought isn’t it.

Anyway, I should imagine thatDavid will be able to write hisregular column from his sick bedby the time the next issue comesaround so I’ll leave it to him tocontinue the lesson!

Carol Corby is a business part-ner of our regular writer DavidWells and we thank her for step-ping up to fill his popular finan-cial column.

• This report is intended to providegeneral advice. In preparing thisadvice, Carol Corby and RBS Morgansdid not take into account the invest-ment objective, the financial situationand particular needs of any particularperson. Before making an investmentdecision on the basis of this advice, youneed to consider, with or without theassistance of an adviser, whether theadvice is appropriate in light of yourparticular investment needs, objectivesand financial circumstances.

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 7

Insuring our incomes is often overlooked here

DOLLAR$&

SENSEwith David Wells

West Gippsland ChoraleCamberwell ChoraleCamerata OrchestraConductor: Douglas Heywood

Saturday, 16th October, 8pmWest Gippsland Arts CentreBookings: 5624 2456 www.wgac.org.au

Soloists: Kathryn Grey, Kerrie Bolton,Michael Lapina, Jerzy Kozlowski

Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ is comingWEST Gippsland Chorale willjoin with the CamberwellChorale and the CamerataOrchestra to present the magnif-icent Verdi Requiem in Warragulon October 18.

These two highly acclaimedchoirs of 150 voices and the 50piece orchestra will be conductedby Douglas Heywood, OAM.He has been conductor of theCamberwell Chorale since 1974,and of the Camerata Orchestrasince 1976.

The music community proba-bly knows him best as the choraldirector, since 1988, for ChannelNine’s Christmas Eve produc-tion of Carols by Candlelight atthe Myer Music Bowl.

Audiences will be enthralled bythis concert. Throughout thework, Verdi uses vigorousrhythms, sublime melodies, anddramatic contrasts to express thepowerful emotions engenderedby the text.

The performance will be atWest Gippsland Arts Centre at8pm on October 16.

Tickets are available from thecentre and cost $38 adults, $36concession, $35 Friends ofWGAC, $25 students. Contactthe box office on 5624 2456 orwww.wgac.org.au

There will also be a Melbourneperformance in Hawthorn TownHall at 2.30 pm on October 31.

The Messa da Requiem byGiuseppe Verdi is a musical set-ting of the Roman Catholicfuneral Mass.

It was first performed in 1874to mark the first anniversary ofthe death of AlessandroManzoni, an Italian poet andnovelist much admired by Verdi.

The Requiem is scored for aquartet of solo singers, doublechorus and a large orchestra.

Throughout the work, Verdiuses vigorous rhythms, sublimemelodies, and dramatic con-trasts, much as he did in hisoperas, to express the powerfulemotions engendered by the text.

The terrifying (and instantlyrecognisable) Dies Irae thatintroduces the traditionalsequence of the Latin funeralrite is repeated throughout for asense of unity, which allowsVerdi to explore the feelings ofloss and sorrow as well as thehuman desire for forgiveness andmercy found in the interveningmovements of the Requiem.

Trumpets surround the stageto produce an inescapable call toJudgement in the Tuba mirum(the resulting combination of

brass and choral quadruple-for-tissimo markings resulting insome of the loudest unamplifiedmusic ever written), and thealmost oppressive atmosphere ofthe Rex tremendae creates asense of unworthiness before theKing of Tremendous Majesty.

Yet the well-known tenor soloIngemisco radiates hope for thesinner who asks for the Lord’smercy. Verdi also recycles andreworks the duet Qui me rendrace mort? Ô funèbres abîmes!,from Act IV of Don Carlos, inthe beautiful Lacrimosa whichends this sequence.

The joyful Sanctus (a compli-cated eight-part fugue scored fordouble chorus) begins with abrassy fanfare to announce him“who comes in the name of theLord” and leads into an angelicAgnus Dei sung by the femalesoloists with the chorus.

Finally the Libera me, the old-est music by Verdi in theRequiem, interrupts. Here thesoprano cries out, begging,“Deliver me, Lord, from eternaldeath ... when you will come tojudge the world by fire.”

More information about theWest Gippsland Chorale is at:www.westgippslandchorale.org.au

Nigerian sisters’ agreement

THE Cranbourne-based Sisters of Nativity have renewed their contract to work in Sale Diocese for anoth-er three years. Superior General Sr Theresa Nezen has been in the diocese from Nigeria for the past monthon an official visit to the sisters. She signed an agreement with Bishop Christopher Prowse to extend the termof the Australian mission. Pictured at the signing of the agreement are (from left) Sr Grace Onaivi,Cranbourne Sr Anna Abba, Superior General Sr Theresa, Bishop Prowse, and Sr Mercy Akoh.

By Sr Mary Fermio rsj

MELBOURNE’S populationhad swelled to over 220,000,three times what it had beenwhen Lexie was born two yearsearlier.

Work was commencing on theMelbourne Cricket Groundwhen Donald MacKillop wasborn, seventh child of Alexanderand Flora, on an autumn day,April 27, 1853.

Mary was 11 years old and shebecame Donald’s “little moth-er.”

She said once “There couldnever be too many Donalds”,recalling her grandfather, whodrowned when she was five-years-old.

Donald’s childhood existed ata time when the familiy’s incomewas very low. Despite thisAlexander made two unsuccess-ful attempts to enter parliament.

From what we can gather, thefamily were living with Flora’sbrother, Donald, at The Plenty,an area north of Melbournenear the Plenty Ranges.

At the age of 13, Donald hadridden from Portland to be withMary at Penola. There he stud-ied Latin under the supervisionof Fr Woods.

His ride had been secretlyassisted by his brother John,about to return to New Zealandand it wasn’t until Donald hadarrived safely that John let thesecret out.

Donald continued his educa-tion with Jesuit priests at StAloysius’s College, Sevenhill, inthe Clare Valley of SouthAustralia.

He joined their order on June7, 1872 and Alexander wrote ofhis joy at his son thinking ofbecoming a priest.

After teaching for five years atSevenhill, he studied atInnsbruck in the Austrian Tyroland was ordained a priest inNorth Wales on September 20,1885.

To Mary, Donald had prom-ised his first priestly blessingwhich he gave her on paper -“You have your long-cherishedwish. I am a priest of the Societyof Jesus. What a fine cry you willhave over this!”

On his return to Australia in1886, Fr Donald MacKillop wasappointed to Rapid Creek sta-tion near Palmerston (renamedDarwin in 1911) on the DalyRiver in the Northern Territory.

This very difficult missionaffected his health. He studiedMulluck Mulluck dialect of theindigenous tribes and his paperAnthropological Notes on theAboriginal Tribes of the DalyRiver, North Australia was pub-

lished by the Royal Society ofSouth Australia.

Donald had great sympathyfor the disadvantaged andunder-privileged and workedtirelessly to help those on hismission.

Like his father, he spoke outagainst unjustice and his writ-ings reveal his sensitive apprecia-tion of the human dignity of theAborigals and his search fortruth in his understanding oftheir culture.

He returned to Adelaide in1897 worn out and ill and couldonly work when his healthallowed.

Donald and Mary were veryclose and she revealed in her let-ters to him much of the hurtsand anguish she experiencedover the years.

He supported her greatly andurged her “Bear up, dear . . . ourBlessed Lord has great joys instore for you, even here in thisvale of tears . . . He who gaveyou your generous nature willgive that abundance of gracewhich is necessary. Half meas-ures will never give you peace.Our Lord will not take fromyou.”

When Mary became ill in 1909and was near her death he wroteto her, “If you do go to Godsoon, I shall be disappointed ifyou do not manage to come tome, cure me and send me back todo some more years of work.”

Mary died when Donald wasoffering Mass in Port Augustaconvent chapel and by carefulcalculation he realised that Maryhad died between the Mementoof the Living and the Mementofor the Dead.

He said “So she had the bene-fit of both.”

Fr Donald MacKillop died atNorwood, SA, on February 24,1924, 15 years after Mary’sdeath, so it seems his requestmay have been answered. He isburied in West TerranceCemetery in Adelaide.

Sources: Archival resource materials andMacKillop Family by Sr PhilomenaMcGuigan rsj.

• Next month: Peter MacKillop- the youngest of eight.

THERE are a number of dioce-san events planned before andafter at canonisation of Mary ofthe Cross MacKillop.

In addition to the recent dioce-san pilgrimage of the MacKillopCross and the spirituality day onMary MacKillop for pastoralassociates and religious, variousevents are being organised byparishes and regions.

On October 6 BishopChristopher Prowse will official-ly commission and bless the stu-dent and parish pilgrims whowill journey to Rome for thecanonisation ceremony in StPeter’s Square.

The blessing and commission-ing of pilgrims will be at 7pm atthe Sion Teachers’ Centre inWarragul. Student pilgrims andfamilies can book with theCatholic Education Office on5622 6624. Parish pilgrims needto book with the diocesan pas-toral office on 5126 1063.

Whilst in Rome, Bishop Chriswill lead the diocesan pilgrims ina walking tour in Rome. Pilgrimsare asked to meet him at thegranite obelisk at the centre of StPeter’s Square at 3pm.

On Sunday, October 17 parish-es around the diocese will joinwith the Australian and NewZealand Church in celebratingthe Canonisation of Mary of theCross MacKillop. The canonisa-tion ceremony at the Vatican willbe broadcast live.

The canonisation will be seen

live both on Australian TV andthe Web, direct from St Peter’sSquare in Rome. Sky TV willbroadcast live from about6.30pm (eastern time) on,October 17, while ABC News 24,the new 24 hour free-to-air sta-tion, has also indicated it willbroadcast as much as possible ofthe ceremony. Both will provideexpert commentary on theevents as they unfold.

ABC1’s Compass program willfeature a canonisation special at10pm. Other stations have indi-cated they will have features andlive crosses to Rome as well asupdates in their regular newsservices.

A live web stream of the cere-mony will also be available, com-plete with commentary. Anyonewith Internet can access the webstream from the Archdiocese ofSydney website (www.sydney-catholic.org), the XT3 social net-work site (www.xt3.com), or theMary MacKillop site(www.marymackillop.org.au).Following the ceremony, thewebcast will be available ondemand, so that schools, or oth-

ers who might miss the actualevents, can access it and view itat a time of their choosing.

Melbourne Archdiocese ishosting a day of celebrations oncanonisation day, beginning withMass at St Patrick’s Cathedral at11am followed by a street pro-cession departing from Mary’sbirthplace in Brunswick St.,Fitzroy and an afternoon festivalat the Royal ExhibitionBuildings from 2.30pm includinglive screening of the ceremony at7pm.

Further details from theArchdiocese of Melbournehttp://www.cam.org.au/mackil-lop/ or from Diane Carmody9287 5563 or email: diane.car-mody@cam.org.au

Sale Diocese will host a cele-bratory Mass for the canonisa-tion of Mary MacKillop at StMary’s Cathedral Sale on Friday,November 12 at 11am. Pilgrims,parishioners and representativesfrom diocesan Catholic organi-sations are invited to attend.

On Saturday November 13 theEcumenical Commission willhost Celebrating MaryMackillop – A Great Australianat St Mary of the Cross Hall, StMichael’s, Traralgon. Arrange-ments to be finalised.

For further information ondiocesan events, please contactdiocesan pastoral coordinatorSophy Morley on 5126 1063

Latest canonisation news canbe found at the following Websites:

The Sisters of St Joseph Web-site www.marymackillop.org.au.

For diocesan canonisation bul-letins www.sale.catholic.org.au/liturgy/mackillop-canonisation.

For Catholic Schools canoni-sation news www2.ceosale.c a t h o l i c . e d u . a u / n e w s -centre/index.aspx?curser=13

Page 8 - Catholic Life, September 2010

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Fr Donald MacKillop SJ

Diocese prepares for big day

St Peter’s obeliskTHIS month the young (and theyoung of heart) have been gath-ering on Sunday afternoons toparticipate in RE 4 the Rabble: aglimpse into the life of MaryMacKillop.

RE 4 the Rabble is a series ofcatechesis sessions for ordinary,every-day young people and withthe canonisation of Bl Mary ofthe Cross MacKillop fastapproaching it is an opportunetime to focus on the life and spir-ituality of Australia’s first saint.

So far Sr Margaret Brown rsjand Sr Rita Malavisi rsj have ledus in sessions at Foster andNarre Warren looking at thework and influence of MaryMacKillop.

The sessions have opened up

the story of Mary MacKillopand inspired all who have attend-ed with her wisdom and endur-ing faith.

There are two sessions still tocome:

• “Mary MacKillop: A womanof strong faith” facilitated SrChristina Scannell rsj, 4.30pm-6.30pm, Sunday September 19,St Mary’s Primary School Multi-Purpose Room, 50-54 MonashRd, Newborough.

• “Mary MacKillop: Love inaction” facilitated by Sr DoreenDagge rsj, 4.30pm-6.30pm,Sunday September 26 , ChapterHouse, Foster St, Sale.

There is no cost to attend RE 4the Rabble and everyone is wel-come.

Rabble meets Mary Mac

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 9

A BAIRNSDALE parishionerhas been elected to head theSecular Franciscans in Australia.Sandra Tilley sfo of NewlandsArm near Paynesville will benational minister for the nextthree years.

It is the highest position inOceania and she will reportdirectly to the headquarters ofSecular Franciscans in Rome.

She has been a member of theFranciscans for 22 years and willbe professed 21 years next

month.She joined in Sydney and has

been extensively involved atlocal, regional and national lev-els with the order, once known asThird Order Franciscans.

She and her husband Chrismoved to their comfortablehome on the Gippsland Lakesabout seven years ago.

Mrs Tilley explains many peo-ple have problems with the word“secular” which in commonmodern usage is almost an oppo-

site of being religious.Secular really means “of the

world” and so SecularFranciscans are those who live inthe footsteps of St Francis aspart of the wider world ratherthan in a religious community.

She said that SecularFranciscans were Catholic menand women who lived andworked in the secular world whohad decided to commit them-selves more fully to Christ by fol-lowing the example and inspira-tion of St Francis.

These seculars were originallyknown as Brothers and Sisters ofPenance but from 1883-1978were called Tertiaries or mem-bers of the Third Order of StFrancis.

Mrs Tilley said St Francis wasa unique and charismatic figurewho, inspired by the Holy Spirit,renewed the Church dramatical-ly in his time (c1181-1226).

He founded two religiousorders – the friars which includesboth priests and brothers, andanother of nuns, known today asthe Poor Clares, after St Clare ofAssisi to whom St Francis gave arule of life that called for perse-verance in holy poverty.

St Francis also inspired thesecular order, which is also gov-erned by a rule or way of lifeapproved by the Pope of the day.

Mrs Tilley said SecularFranciscans followed the ruleapproved by Pope Paul VI in1978 when he gave the order itsnew name, but retained theGospel Way of Life in the spiritof St Francis as the basis forSecular Franciscan living.

There were several characteris-tics that were readily associated

with Franciscan living and thseincluded a simple lifestyle,prayer, love of the Eucharist, joyin all God’s creation, penance,humility and poverty of spirit.

She said many popes had pro-moted membership of theSecular Franciscan Order andsome, such as Pope John XXIII,were members. The orders boast-ed many saints including St Joanof Arc and St Thomas More. BlFrederic Ozanam, who founded

the St Vincent de Paul Society,was a committed Tertiary as wasCharles O’Neill who establishedthe society in Australia andFrank Duff, the Irish founder ofthe Legion of Mary.

Mrs Tilley said fraternity wasa key element of Franciscan lifeand accordingly SecularFranciscans met together regu-larly, with there being about 50local fraternities spread acrossAustralia.

Head of Secular Franciscans from Gippsland

SO far this year the Sale DioceseCatholic School of Evangel-isation has been active withcourses in Traralgon, LakesEntrance and Cranbourne.

In April the Good Newscourse was presented inTraralgon with about 20 peoplein attendance. This courseteaches participants the basiccore message of the Gospel sothat when they proclaim theGood News, as commanded byJesus, they actually know whatto say.

One participant shared, “TheGood News course enabled meto deepen my understanding ofthe essential message of thechurch and how to bring peopleto believe in Jesus…Now I ambuilding up confidence in shar-ing the Good News with others.”

In May the Personal Prayercourse was presented at LakesEntrance, attended by 19 parish-ioners, including Fr BrendanHogan who attended on theFriday night.

The course teaches a particu-

lar style of prayer centred on theScriptures and praise of God.One parishioner shared afterattending the course, “While thestyle of prayer taught may notappeal to everyone, it certainlyoffered something different andthought provoking. We alsolearnt one of the many ways toread the scriptures and how toget into the good habit of read-ing them…I find that I am moreinclined now to pick up my Bibleon a more regular basis.”

The most recent course pre-sented was the “Jesus in the FourGospels” course at Cranbourne,also in May. This seminar looksat each of the four evangelists interms of The Man, The Methodand The Message. Each of thegospels is examined in terms ofthe personality and experience ofthe writer, the context in which itwas written and the face of Jesuswhich they present.

For further information onany of the School ofEvangelisation courses contactPat Kelly 5672 2772 .

Sandra Tilley sfo

Spreading Good News

By Sophy Morley

SALE - The Diocese of Salehosted the NationalPhotographic Exhibition ofInspirational Catholic Women atSt Mary’s Cathedral in Sale for aweek last month.

The exhibition was organisedby the Australian CatholicBishops’ Conference Office forthe Participation of Women andthe Council for AustralianCatholic Women.

About 60 Catholic women,nominated by their diocesesfrom across Australia, are beingcelebrated for their shiningexamples of faith and Christianwitness in their lives. The photo-graphs were accompanied by ashort biography of each woman.

The exhibition was conceivedto commemorate the tenthanniversary of the landmarkpublication of Woman and Man:One in Christ Jesus.

The launch of the exhibition,coincided with the quarterlygathering of the Council forAustralian Catholic Women,headed by Bishop MichaelMalone, held at Sale.

Bishop Christopher Prowsewas delighted to open the exhibi-tion and spoke with appreciationand gratitude of the participa-tion and contribution of womento the Catholic Church inAustralia.

Special guests at the launchwere the two diocesan womenincluded in the exhibition,Pauline Cook from Benambraand Naomi Elswyk from Moe.

Their biographies are below:

Pauline Cook - BenambraPauline has been an outstand-

ing parishioner of St Francis ofAssisi Catholic Church atBenambra for decades. Her par-ticipation has touched prettywell every facet of parish life

over the past 40 years. It hasincluded an extended involve-ment in the celebration of liturgyin Benambra, including over 10years where half the Sundayliturgies are lay led. Pauline hasbeen an outstanding leader. Shehas been involved in parish litur-gy groups and in assistingparishioners with preparationfor and celebration of funeralsand weddings, baptisms, andSacraments of Initiation.

Pauline was for many years acatechist at the BenambraPrimary School. She has alsoparticipated in and helped leadmany aspects of adult formationin the parish including parishweekends at Millgrove, ongoingformation within the Region,often at Bairnsdale 150km away,and faith formation such asLenten groups.

She has been a member of theRegional Pastoral group, partici-pating in Regional Meetings andactivities throughout EastGippsland. She has been and isinvolved in numerous local com-munity groups, as well as parishactivities.

She brings to all her variousinvolvements a deep faith,prayerfulness, a desire for learn-ing and finding new ways in rap-idly changing times and in aparish which no longer has a res-ident priest. This has led to along and fruitful involvement inecumenical prayer, worship, andfaith development.

All of this is against the back-ground of her family. Paulineand her husband, John, haveraised a large family and remainheavily involved with a largeextended family. Pauline andJohn have always extended anextraordinarily warm welcome

to the priests and sisters whohave ministered in the OmeoParish, and who now visit fromBairnsdale. They have providedunfailing kindness and supportfor them in all their endeavours.

Naomi Elwsyk - MoeNaomi was born in 1980, a

tiny, very premature baby at 980grams. Her prognosis was notgood but she was a fighter andmeant to survive. She received ahuge welcome from a largeextended family and over 80family members attended herformal baptism ceremony at StKieran’s Moe in April 1981.

At 15 months she was formallydiagnosed with cerebral palsy.We knew then that Naomi wouldprobably spend her life in awheelchair as her chances of everbeing able to walk unaided werenot good. Naomi was tiny in sizeand surprised everyone whothought she was a baby when shewas really an average little girlwho could communicate well bythe age of two. She insisted on awheelchair at age 3½ because shewanted to wheel herself and notbe a baby in a pusher.

From age two to 14 Naomiunderwent a series of operations.She also had extensive physioand occupational therapy.Naomi attended kindergartenand then completed her primaryeducation at St Kieran’s PrimarySchool. Naomi’s first commun-ion and confirmation were spe-cial events. The bishop got downfrom the altar to confirm her andwe have a wonderful photo ofhim down on his knees next toher. Naomi then attendedPresentation College for her sec-ondary years. The system wasvery flexible, as Naomi could notaccess the library or computerroom upstairs she had her owncomputer link in a speciallydesigned room downstairs andthe teachers worked well with themodifications.

Naomi made her formal debutdancing in her wheelchair withthe rest of the group. In year 12her father became very ill with anasbestos related cancer and hedied in March 1999 shortly afterNaomi commenced university.

At 28 years of age she is a wellknown member of our commu-nity. Within our Parish Naomiproduces funeral liturgy book-lets for most of the funerals inthe Parish. Naomi is very com-puter literate and assists ourParish priests with computerglitches. Naomi does not consid-er herself to be disabled andrefers to her wheelchair as herlegs. She has been known tocrawl into buildings if they areinaccessible.

In past years, Naomi receivedan award from the local RotaryClub and from the RotaryDistrict. She also spoke at aDisability Day Breakfast atMonash University in front oflecturers and heads of campusabout her experiences as a dis-abled student entering the work-force. Naomi and her motherRita, participated in the WeHave a Story project, organisedby the National Network forDisability and Spiritualty andsponsored by the AustralianCatholic Bishops’ Conferenceand they travelled to Canberrafor the launch of the resource.

Last year Naomi travelled tothe World Youth Day celebra-tions in Sydney with her motherand she participated with theother pilgrims from her Diocese.It was a momentous and won-derful experience for her.Currently Naomi is a case man-ager on the Bushfire Recoveryteam in Warragul, (WestGippsland) and is in the processof studying to complete her thirdtertiary degree.

Page 10 - Catholic Life, September 2010

Authorised by CSF Pty Limited ABN 30 006 169 286, Trustee of Catholic Super ABN 50 237 896 957. Information is about the Fund and is not intended as financial advice. It does not take into account specific needs, so members should consider their personal position, objectives and requirements before taking any action.

Catholic Super and National Catholic Superannuation Fund merged into one fund on March 31 2010.

The merged fund will continue its dedication to the Australian Catholic community with strong investments and personal attentive service.

The new fund will continue to be a low-fee, not-for-profit industry super fund, that does not pay commissions, invests responsibly

and provides unbiased financial advice to its members.

For more information about the merger of Catholic Super and National Catholic Superannuation Fund go to www.merger.ncsf.csf.com.au.

If you would prefer to telephone us call 1300 550 273 or 1300 655 002.

Your Life,Our Community

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Photo exhibition of inspirational women visits

BISHOP of Maitland-Newcastle, Michael Malone (left) chats with(from left) diocesan pastoral coordinator Sophy Morley, Naomi Elsykand her mother, Rita Elswyk.

CHATTING at the photographic exhibition opening are (from left)Pauline Cook, Benambra, Council for Australian Catholic Women,Beth Nolen, Darwin and chairman Patricia Banister, Newcastle.

KOO WEE RUP - 20 childrenfrom St John’s made their FirstEucharist on August 28.

It was a great celebration anda wonderful night for the chil-dren and their families.

The children received theirFirst Eucharist from Fr ThomasMannakulathil along with theirparents who also received theEucharist or a blessing.

Many thanks to MarleneScanlon, Justin Greenwood andFr Mannakulathil for assistingand guiding the children in theirpreparation for this importantsacrament.

We particularly thank Sr Josefor her help as this will be herlast sacrament working with theSt John’s children and thank herfor the contributions that shehas made to our families.

Sr Jose is leaving the area atthe end of this term and we wishher every luck as she starts thenext chapter of her life.

20 make theirfirst communionat Koo Wee Rup

By Liz Roberts

PARISHIONERS fromPakenham, Koo Wee Rup, LangLang and Cranbourne gained aunique insight into the life ofBlessed Mary MacKillop on apilgrimage to Penola.

The township in SouthAustralia is where she estab-lished her first school and reli-gious order in 1866.

The group of 33 people,including two Josephite sisters,departed Pakenham on August 7to visit a number of significantlocations in Mary MacKillop’slife, over three days.

The highlight of the trip wasSunday Mass on Blessed Mary’sfeast day August 8 at Penolaparish. Special permission wasgranted to the parish to celebratethe Mass of Blessed Mary of theCross over the standard Sundayreadings.

Fr Paul Gardiner SJ the for-mer Postulate for Blessed MaryMacKillop’s cause for saint-hood, celebrated Mass. He spentmore than six years researchingMary’s life for submission inRome, and is author of her offi-cial biography.

Miriam Richardson and Rose-Marie Lappin both fromPakenham said they saw the sun-light shine in the window ontothe photo of Mary MacKillop asFr Gardiner shared on Mary’slife.

He reminded the congregationof her willingness to accept thewill of God throughout her life,this being a major reason for whythe church will recognise her as asaint on October 17.

Fr Julian Tenison Woods, whoco-founded the Sisters of StJoseph of the Sacred Heartorder, chalice was the used in theMass.

After a cuppa with localparishioners, the group took aguided tour of Penola and thenlooked over the MaryMacKillop Interpretive Centreand historical township.

Sunday afternoon also provid-ed the opportunity to taste thewines of the Coonawarra regionwith visits to Wynns Estate andMajella Wines.

Between wineries the groupvisited the carved trees in WoodsPark, which highlight Fr Woods’contributions to life and society.

Sr Christina Scannell rsj, pas-toral associate at Pakenham andJoanne Staindl-Johnson fromTour Local organised a compre-hensive pilgrimage. Prays andhymns on the coach linkedtogether the sights on the jour-ney.

Travelling to Penola stopsincluded the Loreto ChapelBallarat(Mary had been friendswith the founder of the Loretoschool mother Gonzaya Barry).Also Hamilton parish churchwhich has commemorative

stained glass windows to Mary’sfather Alexander and the localcemetery where he is buried.

Extra circular activities includ-ed an impromptu stop at GlenelgFine Chocolates in Coleraine!

Travelling home included astop at Bayview CommunityCollege in Portland whichincludes the remains of the homewhere Mary lived prior to mov-ing to Penola to establish herinstitute.

Tour hostess Joanne and coachdriver Gavin Boloski and othersupport staff from Tour Localkept the group informed andhappy throughout the trip.

Liz Roberts undertook the pil-grimage in memory of her child-hood spiritual supporter in WA,Sr Dorothea Cleary rsj.

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 11

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Penola pilgrimage honors Mary MacKillop

MAUD Cazeneure, Pakenham, Olivia Francisco visiting from Sri Lanka via Pakenham, Denise Cervascio,Pakenham, Alison Hearne, Cranbourne, and Eileen Christensen, Lang Lang, by the carved trees of FrJulian Tenison Woods and Bl. Mary MacKillop at Woods Park outside Penola.

THE historic Penola school house, recently damaged in a freak storm,which will be repaired in time for the canonisation.

KOO Wee Rup pastoral associate Sr Rose Wood rsj (left) with FrPaul Gardiner SJ and Pakenham pastoral associate Sr ChristinaScannell rsj, after the feast day Mass in Penola on August 8.

Billings method aids birthsA TRAINED teacher in theBillings Ovulation Method hasapplauded results of a studywhich had found the benefits ofusing the method to achievepregnancy.

Patsy Heffernan, works fromCentacare Gippsland, inWarragul and is available toassist couples throughout thediocese to learn more.

A five-year study by theOvulation Method Research andReference Centre of AustraliaLtd found that sub-fertilewomen achieved a known preg-nancy rate of 65 percent usingthe Billings Ovulation Method.

The study involved a total of449 participants of which 207women had previously been clas-sified as sub-fertile.

Twenty couples in the studyhad been unsuccessful in tryingto achieve pregnancies with invitro fertilisation or artificialinsemination, yet seven of themachieved pregnancy using theBillings Ovulation Method.

Significantly, 66 percent ofover 38 year olds in the study

also achieved a pregnancy usingthe method.

On average, couples had triedto conceive for a period of 15months before participating inthe study.

The average period from initialinstruction in the BillingsOvulation Method to concep-tion was 4.7 months.

President of OvulationMethod Research and ReferenceCentre of Australia Ltd, KerryBourke, hopes that women whohave concerns about their fertili-ty will be encouraged by thesefindings to seek natural fertilitycounselling with Billings and,that more GPs will recommend itas an option for sub-fertilewomen.

In the five years from January1, 2000 to December 31, 2005,the Australian Governmentspent, via Medicare, $584.6 mil-lion on assisted reproductivetechnology (ART). In 2007, 22percent of the ExtendedMedicare Safety Net) benefitswent towards ART.

The average cost of ART per

live birth is approximately$33,000. The cost of a live birthusing IVF increases with mater-nal age.

The live birth rate for womenaged 30 to 34 using IVF isapproximately 24.7 percent whilefor women aged 35 to 39 the livebirth rate is approximately 24percent. The live birth rate forwomen aged 40 to 44 is approxi-mately 6 percent

By comparison, the averagecost of the Billings OvulationMethod per live birth is about$1100.

A proposal to conduct a threeyear pilot program inMelbourne, using the BillingsOvulation Method to assist sub-fertile women, has been for-warded to the Department ofHealth and Ageing for consider-ation.

More information about theBillings Ovulation Method isavailable at www.billingslife.orgor contact Mrs Heffernanthrough Centacare Gippsland on5622 1188.

I do not fear tomorrowfor I have seen today.

Page 12 - Catholic Life, September 2010

By Sophy Morley

THE Pilgrimage of theMacKillop Cross wound its wayaround the Diocese of Sale forthree days last month.

The cross is one of two madefrom the floorboards of the firstWoods/MacKillop school housein Penola, South Australia. Thewood was conserved by theKnights of the Southern Crosswhen a new floor was laid in theschool room.

One of the crosses was giftedto Pope John Paul II by theArchdiocese of Sydney duringhis visit to Australia in 1986. Thesecond Cross was for St Mary’sCathedral in Sydney.

On December 8, 2009 thiscross was carried in the EntranceProcession at the midday Massin the Mary MacKillopMemorial Chapel at NorthSydney.

After Mass the cross was pre-sented to the Sisters of St Josephof the Sacred Heart. The

MacKillop Cross Pilgrimage,organised nationwide by theKnights of the Southern Cross,for and on behalf of the Sistersof St Joseph, travelled to parish-es and schools in Sale Diocesebefore arriving back in theMelbourne Archdiocese.

The cross journeyed to theBallarat Diocese and eventuallyto Penola in South Australia, thesite of the first school establishedby Mary MacKillop and FrJulian Tenison Woods. The crosswill eventually arrive in Sydneyfor the celebrations surroundingthe canonisation on October 17.

The cross was welcomed atMary MacKillop PrimarySchool, Narre Warren North, StJoseph’s Parish Warragul, StMary’s Cathedral Sale, St Mary’sPrimary School Bairnsdale, StLaurence’s Parish Leongathaand Mary MacKillop CatholicRegional College Leongatha. Ateach venue, the cross was wel-comed and carried in procession.

Mary MacKillop PrimarySchool, Narre Warren North,celebrated the presence of thecross with a special prayer serv-ice. Children and staff were ableto venerate the cross at the con-clusion of prayer.

Deacon Mark Kelly led aafternoon liturgy of receptionwhen the Cross arrived at StJoseph’s Parish in Warragul.

Parishioners from Warragul

and neighbouring parishes,including families and studentsfrom Marist-Sion College and StJoseph’s Primary School joinedin prayer and afterwards,watched the Mary MacKillopDVD over afternoon tea.

The next stage of the journeywas at St Mary’s Cathedral Sale,where Fr Bernard Buckley led agroup of 85 people in a beautifuland moving Taizé prayer service.

The liturgy concluded with aveneration of the cross and finalblessing by Bishop Prowse. Thefollowing morning the crossdeparted for Bairnsdale aftermorning Eucharist at the cathe-dral which was attended by somestudents and staff from local andregional Catholic schools.

At Bairnsdale, the cross waswelcomed by principal KevinGreenwood, Fr Denis O’Bryan,Fr Stephen Onuoha and over 400students from St Mary’sBairnsdale, St Brendan’s LakesEntrance and St Joseph’sOrbost.

Sr Maureen Philp rsj spokeabout the life, charism and lega-cy of Mary MacKillop.

The cross was transported inthe late afternoon to St LaurenceO’Toole parish in Leongathawhere Mass was celebrated by Fr

Mathew Kannalayil and FrJacob Thadathil for SouthRegion parishes includingJosephite Sisters and Josephiteassociates.

On Friday morning, the Crossarrived at Mary MacKillopCatholic Regional College,Leongatha for its final stage inthe diocese. Students and staffwere on hand to welcome thecross and assisted by the Knightsof the Southern Cross, carried itin procession into the MaryMacKillop Chapel.

The chapel contains a preciousremembrance of MaryMacKillop - a piece of her origi-nal coffin, which was conservedafter Mary was laid in her finalresting place in the chapel atMacKillop Place, North Sydney.

After the liturgy led by stu-dents and the veneration of thecross, the MacKillop Cross wastaken back to the Archdiocese ofMelbourne.

The diocese extends its gratefulthanks to the Knights forenabling the pilgrimage of theMacKillop Cross and in particu-lar to Michael O’Halloran fromMelbourne who transported thecross with the assistance of localKnights, including BillMcMahon, Warragul.

MacKillop Cross pilgrimage

KNIGHTS of the South Cross Bill McMahaon and Michael O’Halloran lead a group of students at MaryMacKillop College, Leongatha, as they carry the cross into the school chapel.

ASSISTING parishioners to carry the cross at St Mary’s PrimarySchool, Bairnsdale, is Sr Maureen Philp rsj, Lakes Entrance, (right)who spoke about the life of Bl. Mary MacKillop.

SENIOR students from Marist Sion College, Warragul, with the cross.

BERWICK - St Michael’sPrimary School continues tooffer its students different path-ways to achieving their goals.

An extension group made upof seven students from Grade 5and 6 represented St Michael’sin the Tournament of TheMinds Melbourne Regionalcompetition which incorporatedProblem Solving Skills.

The competition was held atDeakin University against anumber of other schools.Tournament of Minds providedthe group with an of extensionof programs offered at StMichael’s Primary School andenhanced the students’ learning,with the experience of a chal-lenge in an environment withlike minded students, over aseven week period.

The students worked on theirchosen field of applied technol-ogy titled Lost City for one hour

each week over seven weeks, tocomplete an impromptu presen-tation.

The group had to deliver theirpresentation in the form of amovie together with a presenta-tion of how they had reachedtheir solutions, in front of anaudience and a panel of judges,on Sunday the August 28.

Due to hard work and tremen-dous skill, the St. Michael’steam won the competition andas a result, competed in the statefinals on September 12, againstfive other schools.

The students’ communication,encouragement of each otherand co-operation skills enabledthe group to achieve such excel-lent results.

Grade 6G student Aiden Pennsaid “We had to make a moviewhich was based on solving amystery about a Lost City. Ourgroup had to work together tosolve clues like, where the lostcity was and what their culturewas.

“We presented our movie infront of the judges and an audi-ence. I really enjoyed the wholething and although it was quitehard, it was also very reward-ing.”

Some great thinkers win Tournament of Minds

SKILLFUL thinkers from St Michael’s Berwick, (back row, from left): April Tsdarkas, Helena Hodges,Aiden Penn and (front row) Molly Greely, Chloe Anderson, Gemma Quinn and Olivia Davis

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SALE Diocese welcomed twoleading speakers on stewardship.

Chris Ehler from the faith andlife vicariate of BrisbaneArchdiocese and Tracy Welliver,the pastoral associate and stew-ardship leader from St Pius XParish, North Carolina, USA,made a two day visit.

The two men presented anoverview and engage in discus-sion about the ancient Christianpractice and way of livingespoused by stewardship.

Whilst many parishes would befamiliar with the aspect of stew-ardship that is more narrowlyfocussed on planned giving andCatholic fundraising, steward-ship in fact is much more com-prehensive than that, encom-passing the whole of Christianlife and our call to mission.

Themen gave presentations forat St Michael’s in Berwick andanother at St Mary’s ParishNewborough.

Several participants fromneighboring parishes attended.

St Joseph’s Warragul pastoralassociate Joan Robertson offersus some thoughts on what sheheard at the Newborough pres-entation:

Christian stewardship is not anew idea. The origins of stew-ardship are deeply embedded inthe Hebrew Scriptures and in aspecific sense, in the teachings ofJesus in the Gospel.

It was the development of aUS Bishop’s pastoral letter:Stewardship: A Disciple’sResponse in 1992. This led to the

widespread adoption of steward-ship principles in the pastoral lifeof many parishes in USA,Canada, England and nowAustralia,

Christian Stewardship focuseson all that we are gifted with andcalls us to four actions.

(a) Receiving the gifts of Godwith gratitude. (b) Cultivatingthem responsibly. (c) Sharingthem generously in justice withothers, and (d) Returning thegifts with increase to God.

All we have is gift, freely givenby God. To follow Jesus we areasked to return to God thosegifts for his glory.

The parish is to provide andgive opportunities for parish-ioners to work through a dis-cernment process, so that theycan discover their own spiritualgifts and then use those gifts inservice to others

Stewardship is mature disciple-ship which requires a decision tofollow Jesus Christ no matterwhat the cost.

This commitment leads to away of life, not just a series ofactions. Then, with the first twobeing true, stewardship is trans-formational.

We are given opportunities topractice good stewardship, eitherindividually, in organised com-munity and also in everyday life.

In parishes where there is apastoral parish council a smallstewardship group or committeecan be set up to research andrecommend relevant approachesfor advancing the stewardship

way of life. This committee would also be

in partnership with our schools.In this way the parish pastoralcouncil continues with its impor-tant broader role while leavingthe specific stewardship tasks tothe members of the stewardshipcommittee.

There are many opportunitiesand ministries in our parishes forpeople to become fully involvedand engaged in. But the chal-lenge for all our parishioners isfor them to realize that they allhave special gifts and talents theyare needed, for our parishes to bebecome truly evangelised andwelcoming communities.

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 13

Time for a LaughA POLICEMAN pulled overan old man driving his caralong the highway.

“Sir, did you know yourwife fell out of the car as yourounded a corner a couple ofkilometres back?”

The old man smiled andsaid “I didn’t know! I thoughtI’d gone deaf!”

THE priest was mostannoyed that an old man keptfalling asleep at Mass andsnoring loudly.

He decided to do some-thing about it, so next weekhe gave $1 to a boy sittingbeside the man and askedthat the boy keep nudginghim to keep him awake.

The Mass started well buthalf way through the sermonthe old man was fast asleep,snoring loudly.

After Mass the priest calledthe boy aside and asked“What happened? I gave you$1 to keep him awake?”

“I know,” said the boy “buthe gave me $5 to let him sleep.Here’s your dollar back.”

A WELL-known Americanevangelist tells the story ofthe time when he arrived in asmall town to preach.

Wanting to post a letter, heasked a small boy for direc-tions to the post office.

When the boy told him, theevangelist thanked him andsaid: “If you come to churchthis evening, you can hear metelling everyone how to get toheaven.”

“I don’t think I’ll bother,”the boy said, “You don’t evenknow your way to the postoffice.”

TEACHER: Catherine, I toldyou to write this poem out 10times because your handwrit-ing was so bad. You’ve onlydone it five times.

Catherine: Sorry Miss. Iguess my arithmetic is notthat good either.

CUSTOMER: Two soggyeggs on burnt toast please.

Cafe owner: We can’t servethat here, sir.

Customer: Why not? Youdid yesterday.

WHAT weighs two tonnes,has four legs, a tail, long noseand flies?

A dead elephant.

THREE women die togetherin an accident and go to heav-en. When they get there, StPeter says, “We only have onerule here in heaven . . . don’tstep on the ducks.”

So they enter heaven, andsure enough, there are ducksall over the place.

It is almost impossible notto step on a duck, andalthough they try their best toavoid them, the first womanaccidentally steps on one.

Along comes St Peter withthe ugliest man she ever saw.

St Peter chains themtogether and says “Your pun-ishment for stepping on aduck is to spend eternitychained to this ugly man!”

The next day, the second

woman steps accidentally ona duck, and along comes StPeter, who doesn’t miss athing, and with him is anoth-er extremely ugly man. Hechains them together with thesame admonishment as forthe first woman.

The third woman hasobserved all this and, notwanting to be chained for alleternity to an ugly man, isvery, very careful where shesteps.

She manages to go monthswithout stepping on anyducks, but one day St Petercomes up to her with themost handsome man she hasever laid eyes on. Very tall,long eyelashes, muscular, andlean.

St Peter chains themtogether without saying aword. The woman remarks,“I wonder what I did todeserve being chained to youfor all of eternity?”

The guy says, “I don’t knowabout you, but I stepped on aduck!”

A LADY was attending achurch social one afternoon.The ladies were all making afuss over the new born baby,the newest member of thechurch community.

Like a good mother, thelady was closely watching hernewborn when she saw a littlegirl come up to her baby. Thelittle girl started having a veryone way conversation.

When the little girl startedasking the newborn ques-tions, the mother leaned overand said, “The baby cannottalk.”

The little girl, in all inno-cence, looked up at the moth-er and asked, “Does it neednew batteries?”

TWO swagmen call at theCatholic presbytery. Thepriest gives them a note andtells them to take it to thelocal hotel where the ownerwill give them a meal and abath.

“What’s a bath?” one swag-gie asks.

“How would I know? I’mnot a Catholic!” replies theother.

LITTLE Bobby was spend-ing the weekend with hisgrandmother after particular-ly trying week in school.

His grandmother decidedto take him to the park onSaturday morning. It hadbeen snowing all night andeverything was beautiful.

His grandmother remarked“Doesn’t it look like an artistpainted this scenery? Did youknow God painted this justfor you?

Bobby said, “Yes, God didit and he did it left handed.”

This confused his grand-mother a bit, and she askedhim “What makes you sayGod did this with his lefthand?”

“Well,” said Bobby, “welearned at school last weekthat Jesus sits on God’s righthand!”

Lend a helping hand asremote area volunteersA DROUIN couple who havecompleted two stints as volun-teers in remote areas of BroomeDiocese have recommended oth-ers also consider doing suchwork.

Vin and Judy Bibby undertookvoluntary work in the Kimberleyregion of Western Australia in2008 and 2009.

In 2008 they worked for eightmonths in the Waarmun (TurkeyCreek) community as managersfor the Mirrilingki spiritualitycentre that was established bythe Sisters of St Joseph about 28years ago to cater for the spiritu-al and psychological needs of theindigenous members of the localcommunity.

In 2009 Bishop of Broome,Christopher Saunders askedthem to make themselves avail-able to work at Kalumburu mis-sion in the far north of theKimberley.

This mission was establishedby Benedictines 101 years ago tospread the faith into this remotearea of Australia, and it contin-ues today to cater to the indige-nous and non-indigenous mem-bers of the community.

Mr Bibby said the work atKalumburu was in building,building maintenance and cater-ing areas.

He said there was a great needfor volunteers to support thework required by institutions inthe remote areas of Australia sothey could continue their essen-tial work.

There were many communitiesin Broome Diocese that requiredvolunteers. Skills in administra-tion, tradespeople, shop assis-tants, vehicle maintenance,buildings and gardening could

all come in handy.For more information contact

the Bibbys on 5625 5555 or go

direct to the volunteers coordi-nator at Broome, Vicky Baudryon (08) 9192 1060.

JUDY Bibby gives a lesson in making Anzac biscuits to youngsters atMirrilingki.

HAPPY volunteers (from left) Lauren, Jim, John, Moya, Judy andJulie who travelled from all parts of Australia to work as volunteers inthe Kimberley.

Learning about stewardship

ColouringcontestwinnerWE are pressed for space thisissue so unfortunately nocolouring contest for ouryounger readers.

However, we can tell you thatlast month’s winner was KristenMuir, 9, who attends St Joseph’sPrimary School in Korumburra.

Look out for a new colouringcompetition in our specialOctober issue.

We have four great new MaryMacKillop books for children togive away courtesy of ourfriends at John GarrettPublishing in Melbourne.

Page 14 - Catholic Life, September 2010

Quick calendar

What’s on & whenSeptember16 – National E-Conference –

‘Jesus the Christ’18 – School holidays begin19 – RE 4 the Rabble, ‘Mary

MacKillop: A Woman ofStrong Faith’, Sr ChristinaScannell rsj, St Mary’sScghool, Newborough,6.30pm

21-24 – Sale Diocese clergy in-service, Corpus Christi,Carlton

21 – Feast of St Matthew,apostle

23 – Memorial of St Pio ofPietrelcino

26 – RE 4 the Rabble, ‘MaryMacKillop: Love inAction’, Sr Doreen Daggersj, Chapter House, StMary’s Cathedral, 4.30pm

26 – Launch of Social JusticeSunday Statement

27 – Memorial of St Vincentde Paul

October1 – Memorial of St Therese of

Lisieux2 – Final vows of canonical

hermits Srs Julian andMartha, St Mary’s Church,Yarram, 2pm

3 – Daylight saving begins(clocks forward)

3 – Diocesan Missions Mass,St John’s Church, Trafalgar,10.30am

4 – Deadline of OctoberCatholic Life

4 – Term 4 begins4 – Memorial of St Francis of

Assisi5 – Talk on One Body, One

Spirit in Christ by Fr PeterWilliams, CEO, Warragul,5pm

6 – Commissioning ofMacKillop canonisationpilgrims by Bishop Prowse,Sion Teachers’ Centre,Warragul, 7pm

6-7 – Clergy Liturgy confer-ence, Cowes

7 – Serra Mass for vocations,St Mary’s Cathedral, Sale,5.30pm

7 - Talk on One Body, OneSpirit in Christ by Fr PeterWilliams, St Mary’sCathedral, Sale, 6pm

7 – Our Lady of the Rosary10 – Final Hymnfest at Loch

Public Hall, 1.30pm12-24 – Bishop Prowse over-

seas attending canonisationof St Mary of the CrossMacKillop, Rome

13 - Catholic Life published 13 – CDF Board meeting, Sale15 – Memorial of St Teresa17 – Canonisation of St Mary

of the Cross MacKillop,Rome, followed by BishopProwse’s walking tour at3pm. Live TV and Webbroadcasts in Australia

18 – Feast of St Luke, evangel-ist

20 – Diocesan Finance Councilmeeting

21 – Valley region meeting,Newborough, noon

27 – Meetings of Council ofPriests and Consultors,Sale, noon

31 – Annual St Sofia festival atSt John’s, Koo Wee Rup,

Italian Mass at 9.30am, fol-lowed by procession

November1 – All Saints Day1 – Deadline of November

Catholic Life2 – Melbourne Cup (public

holiday)2 – All Souls Day5-7 – Official visit of Bishop

Prowse to Koo Wee Rupparish

9 – East region meeting,Orbost, 10.30am

9 – Launch of new Peter Synanbook, Three Springtimes:Chronicles of St Mary’sCathedral, Sale, 5pm, fol-lowed by releaase of cathe-dral master plan and appeallaunch.

10 – Catholic Life published 10 – South region meeting, St

Laurence’s parish centre,Leongatha, 11.15am

12 – Diocesan celebration ofcanonisation of St Mary ofthe Cross MacKillop, StMary’s Cathedral, Sale,11am

13 – Ecumenical commission,‘Celebrating MaryMacKillop – A GreatAustralian’, Mary of theCross Hall, St Michael’sSchool, Traralgon

13 – Memorial of St FrancisXavier

13 – Celebration of 120thanniversary of foundationof Our Lady of SionConvent, Sale.

14 – Mass at St Mary’sCathedral at 11am, fol-lowed by luncheon to mark120th anniversary of foun-dation of Our Lady of SionConvent

14 – Pilgrimage to Our Lady ofPerpetual Help shrine at StMary’s Cathedral, 2.30pm.

16 – Central region meeting, StJoseph’s parish meetingroom, Warragul, 7.30pm

17 – Official opening new facil-ities at Nagle College,Bairnsdale

19-21 – Bishop Prowse’s offi-cial visit to Moe parish

21 – Solemnity of Christ theKing

22-26 – Australian CatholicBishop’s Conference plena-ry session, Sydney

24 – West region meeting, StAgatha’s parish centre,Cranbourne, 10.30am

27 – Ordination of DeaconDariusz Jablonski as priestfor Sale Diocese, St Mary’sCathedral, Sale, 1pm

27 – Victorian State Elections30 – Deadline of December

Catholic Life

December2 – Valley region Christmas

lunch, Morwell Club, noon8 – Catholic Life published 12 – Polish Mass, Sacred Heart

Church, Morwell, 2pm15 – Council of Priests and

Consultors meetings, Sale,noon

18 – School holidays begin24 – Christmas Eve25 – Christmas Day26 – Boxing Day

Ex-CEO director elected tointernational missiologyFORMER director of Catholiceducation in Sale Diocese, DrTherese D’Orsa has been electedto the executive of theInternational Association ofCatholic Missiologists for thenext three years.

She is the first lay person onthe executive which is comprisedprincipally of priests from majorreligious congregations, semi-naries and from Roman dicaster-ies dealing with mission issues.

She will represent Oceania andhelp plan the 2013 conference inAfrica.

Since retiring from SaleDiocese, Dr Therese D’Orsa hasbeen working for the Broken BayInstitute as a mission volunteer,heading the Faculty of Missionand Culture.

Broken Bay Institute is a theo-logical faculty affiliated with theUniversity of Newcastle whichoffers a wide range of theologyunits through distance learning,the most popular of which areoffered in e-learning mode.

The Institute has a large stu-dent body scattered throughoutAustralia, the Pacific andbeyond. Much of its energy isdirected at teachers – particular-ly those working in smaller dio-ceses. Dr D’Orsa has beenresponsible for establishing anddeveloping the Mission andCulture Department.

Last month, as part of thecontingent from the Broken BayInstitute, Dr D’Orsa and herhusband Dr Jim D’Orsa attend-ed the conference of theInternational Association ofCatholic Missiologists inTagaytay, Philippines.

Missiology is also known asMission Studies. It is an inter-disciplinary branch of theologywhich focuses on how and whythe Church carries out its mis-sion. The theme of the 2010conference was on the challengesof mission in a globalised world.

“Mission” was once thoughtof by Catholics in this countryeither in terms of a parishrevival/renewal program, or as“missions” – the work of theChurch’s “foreign affairs depart-ment”, and largely the responsi-bility of the religious orders.

The latter view assumed thatthere were “developedChurches” and “developingchurches”, and it was an obliga-tion of the former to help the lat-

ter. This is no longer the situation

as speaker after speaker madeabundantly clear at the confer-ence which brought togethersome 75 experts in MissionStudies from Rome and all themajor cultural regions of theworld – Europe, Asia, Africa,North America, Latin Americaand Oceania.

The Church is now well estab-lished in each of these regionsand each faces its own uniquemission challenges. One of themajor strands of the conferencewas an expert analysis of thechallenges the church faces ineach region. Dr D’Orsa wasinvited to provide the input onthe situation in Oceania.

DR Therese D’Orsa (left) with President of the IACM Fr LasarStanislaus SVD, and Sr Maryjoan Iwenofu, delegate from Nigeria,who is currently studying for her Ph D in Mission Studies in Rome andwho, like Dr D’Orsa, is a former head of Religious Education.

Cathedral restoration plan

By Fr Bernard Buckley

EARLIER in the year BishopChristopher Prowse formed acommittee to plan a restorationand enhancement program for StMary’s Cathedral.

It was in 1993 that the cathe-dral was re-opened after anextensive development project.In recent years it has becomeobvious that the building againneeded some close attention.

A committee of local parish-ioners, Fr Bernard Buckley, DesSurkitt, Brenda Burditt, TheoSmolenaars and GeorgeBrayshaw representing the dio-cese of Sale, has met regularly toact on behalf of the whole dio-cese. In co-operation with BillGamble, of Gamcorp,

Bairnsdale, a master plan isalmost ready to be launched.

The master planning processhas highlighted areas of greatneed in the cathedral. Much ofthe render on the interior wallshas deteriorated over thedecades and now needs remov-ing and replacing. The plan willinclude new toilets and a newkitchen.

Visitors to the cathedral fromacross the diocese will be gratefulfor those new facilities.

The roof of the cathedralgathering space is in serious needof repair and renewal. The venti-lation of the building must beimproved and air conditioninginstalled. New developments intechnology, solar power andsafety regulations will involveother works.

Bishop Prowse hopes thecathedral will be restored andenhanced to be sure that itremains a worthy ‘MotherChurch’ for all in the Diocese ofSale for generations to come.

The master plan will belaunched during a gathering atthe cathedral on Tuesday,November 9. Also to belaunched is an appeal to help payfor the cost of the project.

Thirdly Peter Synan’s newbook on the cathedral ThreeSpringtimes will be launched.You’ll see details of that else-where in this issue of CatholicLife.

All people across the dioceseare invited to the launch. We’lllook forward to welcoming youto Sale.

AT the planning committee meeting at the Bishop’s Office last week are (from left) Brenda Burditt, TheoSmolenaars, Fr Bernard Buckley, George Brayshaw and Des Surkitt.

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 15

Good Youth Newswith Jess Denehy & Kelly Lucas

Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?(Mark10:17)

JUST got back from an inspiringmeeting of youth ministry coor-dinators from around Australiaand I am feeling excited andinvigorated by all the youth min-istry news from all over thecountry!

There are so many wonderfulthings happening in youth min-istry that sometimes it is hard tokeep up. But I wanted to sharewith you a little of the presenta-tion given by Fr Chris Ryan mglentitled; “A Youth Minister’sSpiritual Journey”.

Fr Chris, who many of youwould remember from theJourney of the Cross and Icon,talked about “the seven habits ofhighly faithful youth ministers”.He encouraged all those workingor volunteering in youth min-istry to make these habits part oftheir personal practice.

The first habit Fr Chrisencouraged was a committedpersonal prayer life. As well asregular daily prayer Fr Chrissuggested setting aside a day amonth and a longer retreat eachyear to focus on the person ofJesus and centring ourselves in

the gospels in both our dailylives and our work with youngpeople.

Secondly, Fr Chris advocatedthat youth leaders spend at least15 minutes daily meditating onan examen prayer. He suggestedthat an exercise, such as TimothyGallagher’s The Examen Prayerwould be an excellent practice toconclude each day with.

The third habit Fr Chris sup-ported youth ministers to culti-vate was meeting regularly with aspiritual director and perhaps aministry supervisor. Spiritualdirection is a “gathering togeth-er” of two in the name of Jesus,the spiritual director and thedirectee, to help a person todevelop a closer relationshipwith God and to better discernhow the Holy Spirit is leading intheir life.

Fourth, Fr Chris emphasisedthat it is essential for youth min-sters to participate in regular rec-onciliation. Part of a youth min-ister’s calling is to continualtransformation and growth towhich the sacrament of reconcil-iation is essential.

The fifth habit advocated byFr Chris was to ensure that as ayouth minster you regularly par-ticipate in Mass without youryouth minister hat on. Thereneeds to be opportunities in yourlife to meet God in Mass withoutministering or having a job to do.

Keeping control of your diarywas the sixth healthy habitendorsed by Fr Chris. A respon-sible youth volunteer or ministerneeds to ensure regular opportu-nities for prayer and reflectionare scheduled into your calendarand given the same weight andimportance as any other meet-ing.

And finally, the seventh habitof highly faithful youth minis-ters according to Fr Chris, is toensure you allow yourself “offduty” social time. Having friendsbeyond your ministry role is animportant part of rechargingyour youth ministry batteries.

I think these disciplines advo-cated by Fr Chris can help us allgrow, live and love in our youthministry work and throughoutthe rhythm of our daily life.

Young men of GodSydney conferenceTHE Young Men of GodNational Men’s Conference ishappening October 15-17 inSydney and you are invited.

The vision of the conference isto re-ignite young men through-out our country and to helpthem reach their God-givenpotential, to be heralds of thetruth for future generations andto empower others to realisetheir immense value and pur-pose as children of God.

YMG’s pinnacle event of theyear draws Catholic men fromaround Australia for a powerfulweekend of teaching and broth-erhood. Inspiring speakers willhelp take us deeper in our faithjourney, to be strengthened inour walk as Christian men in theworld today.

For more information and toregister go to www.ymgmove-ment.org.

PREPARING for Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians during ayouth forum at Narre Warren.

GRADE two students from StLaurence’s Primary inLeongatha and St Joseph’sPrimary in Korumburra trav-elled to Mary MacKillopCollege for a first Reconciliationreflection day, lead by the Year10 youth ministry class.

The Year 10 students plannedand presented a day focused onReconciliation in preparation forthe Year 2’s sacrament nextterm. Activities included icebreakers, dramas, prayer andmeditation.

The stories of ‘Zacchaeus andthe Sycamore tree’ and ‘The

Prodigal Son’ formed the basisof the activities.

Religious education coordina-tor from St Laurence’s had thisto say after the event, “The chil-dren loved the day and got a lotout of it. All of the activitieswere a hit and they (the Year 2s)really responded well to the Year10s.”

The Youth Ministry studentsalso got a lot from the day. Theorganisation, confidence andknowledge were really impres-sive and the leadership shown bythe Year 10s was well beyondtheir years.

By Simon Cuckson

STUDENTS and staff from theRemar program at Marist-SionCollege in Warragul have recent-ly returned from a week longexperience in Wilcannia, NewSouth Wales.

The group of 12 Year 11 BlueRowers and three staff spent theweek with the community of StTherese’s Community Schoolworking on projects in andaround the struggling school as apart of their involvement in theRemar program.

Each person undertook workin building, painting, gardeningand classroom activities with theyoung primary school agedindigenous children ofWilcannia. The teenagersenjoyed the opportunity to expe-rience a different culture and togive something positive to thecommunity in the isolated out-back town.

The experience is a part of theRemar youth ministry programin which students study leader-ship skills, faith based studies,community involvement andactive service activities. The soli-darity experience is often a high-light for the participants as theyare far removed from their owncommunities and engage inworthwhile activities in commu-nities that really need help. All ofthis takes place whilst living, eat-ing, praying and journeyingtogether for a week.

The highlight for the partici-pants this year was camping inthe sacred Mutawinji NationalPark, near Broken Hill. The twodays, two nights cultural camptook place with the primaryschool children at a remotecamping ground. Activitiesundertaken during the experi-ence included gathering native

food, listening to dreamtime sto-ries and gaining a deeper insightinto the traditional landowners’paintings and rock carvings.

The mission school inWilcannia relies on the annualcamps from the Marist-SionCollege to help with simple but

necessary projects conducted bythese groups. The participantsenjoy the opportunities present-ed to them, but the joy and con-nections experienced by theyoung locals there far outweighthe hardships everyone enduredthroughout the week.

Remar solidarity at Wilcannia

WORKING with the wheelbarrow at Wilcannia are Maddy Barnes andBrodie Webb.

Youth show way

YEAR 10 youth ministry student Beth with Grade 2 Tahlia

Page 16 - Catholic Life, September 2010

THE gold mines on Cohen’sReef at Walhalla were by far therichest in Gippsland.

Individually they equalled any-thing at Bendigo or Ballarat,though the overall output fromWalhalla was not as high.

Previous books on Walhallahave been written by historiansinterested in the social history ofthe town, as well as its miningglories. The most recent wasYolande Reynold’s analysis ofthe town’s cemetery records.

Now two historians, BrianLloyd and Howard Coombes,have written a comprehensivebook, Gold in the WalhallaRegion, on the technical aspectsof gold mining and gold outputover whole of west Gippsland.

Dr Brian Lloyd is an electricalengineer who grew up at TenMile on the goldfields to thenorth of Walhalla, and who haswritten a number of books onthese fields. Howard Coombeshas had practical experience as amine manager on the Gaffney’sCreek field. They previouslycombined to produce the book,Gold At Gaffney’s Creek, pub-lished in 1981.

The authors of this book arespecialists on the technology ofgold mining. They provide foreach mine details of the compa-ny which ran it, and the output

of gold from it on a year by yearbasis. They have also assembledfrom available data lists of mineowners, and the total gold out-put from any particular region.

Although the authors statethat this is not a social history,they do provide lists of inhabi-tants in the region, invaluable forthose doing family history. Thebook brings to public notice afabulous amount of informationcollected from diverse sources.The raw information from min-ing records is tabled, analysedand made comprehensible.

This book covers goldfieldsover a much wider area thanWalhalla itself. North ofWalhalla, Matlock, the Jordanfields and Donelly’s Creek arecovered, and as well as fields atsuch diverse spots as Russell’sCreek, Tanjil, Foster andTurton’s Creek. But the core ofthe book is Walhalla, and inWalhalla the focus is on Cohen’sReef, and famous mines like the

Long Tunnel and the LongTunnel Extended.

Cohen’s Reef at Walhalla wasfabulously wealthy. Figures inthis book show 100,000 ounceswere taken from it in the secondhalf of the 1860s, which dwarfedthe outputs of all other mines inGippsland.

Gold is now worth more than$1000 an ounce, so imagine whatwealth emerged from Walhalla.

The Lady of the Swamp atTullaree in South Gippsland,Margaret Clement, inherited herwealth from her father, PeterClement, an original investor inWalhalla.

The Police Inspector in chargeof the Gippsland district, JohnSadlier, remembered:

“The greatest mine I believe inthe Commonwealth is the LongTunnel. As showing how eagerspeculators then were, I boughtsome shares for £12, my firstmining investment. I could havehad them for £10 a day or two

before. But still the market pricekept steadily rising. I had the sin-gular experience for me of grow-ing richer through this unearnedincrement at the rate of severalthousands a year.

“One man, a mechanic con-nected with the mine, held 100shares. He gave up work andretired to city life, drawing £700per month. When calling at theGeneral Post Office each monthfor his cheque, he would be fol-lowed by a crowd of parasites.”

One of the most prominentpersonalities at Walhalla was themine manager Henry Rosales,originally from Spain and aqualified mining engineer.

He had some experience atClunes and arrived in Walhallain the mid 1860s, when he was aconsulting engineer to the LongTunnel Company. He was thefirst mayor of Walhalla, a Justiceof the Peace and a member ofthe Mining Board for theGippsland district.

A friend of Rosales wasGeorge Hartrick, who arrived inWalhalla at the same time. Hebecame a mine manager, and anumber of his sons continued inthe mining business, so theHartrick family became one ofthe best known in Walhalla overthe decades.

Richard Mackay lived forsome years at Walhalla. He isimportant as the author ofRecollections of Early GippslandGoldfields (1916), the primarysource on the subject.

Ramsay Thomson was anoth-er key figure at Walhalla.Trained in Scotland as amechanical engineer, he workedat Gaffney’s Creek in the later1860s as a construction engineerbefore being appointed managerof the Long Tunnel Mine in1867.

Later personalities who wereimportant included the miningengineers and geologists HymanHerman and WilliamBaragwanath. They also helpeddevelop the Latrobe Valleybrown coal resources in the 20thcentury, proving a link betweenthe two types of mining.

Brown coal became thereplacement industry as goldmining declined. As the authorsof this book are themselves engi-neers, they are able to describethe precise roles of these impor-tant historical figures.

In comparison with Walhallamany mines, like those in theFoster area, covered in thisbook, struggled with meagrereturns over the years. Disputeswere common on all the fields,and the economic history of golfmining was one of ups anddown, with a gradual declinethrough the 20th century.

The authors end their bookwith a 60 page technical descrip-tion of how the gold was won,essential reading for outsiderslike ourselves who have little ideahow it was done.

This is a hard-cover, large for-mat, handsomely producedbook, with many illustrations,diagrams and charts. It is justabout the ultimate anyone couldimagine on research intoGippsland’s richest goldfields.The book is so encyclopedic inits knowledge it’s like a work ofreference where all sorts of infor-mation can be found.

Brian Lloyd and HowardCoombes Gold in the WalhallaRegion, West Gippsland Victoria,Histec Publications, Hampton,2010, available from Dr BrianLloyd, 12A Hampton StHampton East, Victoria, 3188,phone 9553 6120, price $70, plus$8 postage.

THE MARY MACKILLOPPRAYERBOOK FOR CHIL-DREN, by the children ofAustralia, illustrated by LynneMuir, published and distributedby John Garratt Publishing,hardback, 120 pages, rrp $19.95.

MARY MacKillop is certainlythe flavor of the month when itcomes to books but most ofthese are written by adults foradults.

They tell of her life story, hercharism and her strong will tosucceed.

How timely is it then that thischildren’s prayerbook has beenproduced with prayers from chil-dren from all the country.

The book begins with a briefsynopsis of Mary’s life and thenhas nine chapters of prayers.

What everyone will love aboutthis book is the manificent illus-trations from Lynne Muir fea-turing Australian wildlife such aspygmy possums, anemone fish,rock wallabies, swans, emus,rainbow bee eaters, rainbow lori-keets butterflies, geckos andtawny frogmouths.

Several prayers from studentsat St Catherine’s Primary,Berwick South, and St Mary’sPrimary, Yarram, feature in thebook.

THE FATHERS, Vol. 2 by PopeBenedict XVI, published by OurSunday Visitor, distributed byRainbow Books, hardback, 170pages, rrp $25.95.

THIS is the second volume ofteaching from the Pope on the

fathers of the Church, great menof history who guided theChurch.

The Pope writes clearly cover-ing the life and main teachings ofthe various Fathers in a fewpages each.

This volume covers 25 menfrom St Leo the Great throughto Sr Bernard of Clairvaux.

In between are remarkablecharacters such as St Gregorythe Great, St Columban, Bedethe Venerable, John Damasceneand Sts Cyril and Methodius.

For anyone studying theologyor just wanting to know moreabout Church history this wouldmake great reading, as does theprevious volume which coveredthe Fathers of the early Church.

Pope Benedict is revealinghimself to be a great teachingpope and these works will add tothe corpus of his works.

WHEN DID WE SEE YOU,LORD? by Bishop Robert J.Baker and Fr Benedict J.Groeschel CFR, published by OurSunday Visitor, distributed byRainbow Books, hardback, 176pages, rrp $27.95.

THIS book is a great inspira-tional work based on need foreveryone to widen their horizonsand recognise Christ in everyonethey meet.

It is based on the works of FrGroeschel who is a well-knownAmerican speaker, author andretreat master.

He has spent a lifetime work-ing among the poor.

He has written the introducto-ry text which begins each section

and the final “What should Ido?” at the end of the book.

Bishop Baker, a man who hasalso been devoted to findingChrist in the poor, has writtenthe individual meditations andprayers contained in each sectionof the book.

The book provides readerswith the keys to finding the Lordin the poor and to overcome thefears and obstacles (representedby the seven deadly sins) thatprevent them from responding toHis call.

Scattered throughout the bookare small inspirational panelsand some delightful icon-styleillustrations.

UPS AND DOWNS, Prayers byand 4 Youth, compiled byElizabeth Halfman, distributedby Rainbow Books, paperback,84 pages, rrp $16.95

SOMETIMES the traditionalprayers of the Church hold littleappeal for the younger genera-tion.

This book brings together aseries of prayers in more youth-oriented language, talking aboutthe things that matter toteenagers today.

It carries prayers fromteenagers who feel the pain ofbreak-up, the exhilaration ofgetting a driving licence, thestress of exams and so on.

The prayers ring with joy toGod and cries in abandonmentduring the ups and downs of life.

Some of the prayers comefrom the Bible, while others havebeen contributed.

Central CatholicBookshop

322 Lonsdale St., Melbourne(Next door to St Francis’ Church)

Open seven daysPhone and mail orders welcome. Credit cards accepted

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

Visit our website at www.catholicbookshop.com.auBrowse through our range of books and sacramental

and religious gifts or search for specific items byauthor, title or keyword

with Patrick Morgan

GGiippppssllaannddHHiissttoorryy

Talking aboutBooks

The richest gold mines in Gippsland at Walhalla

Local prayerbook for children

AN historic photograph of Walhalla in its heyday as a gold miningtown.

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 17

By Terry Synan

WHY has so little credit andpraise fallen to our intrepid pio-neer surveyors? Early explorers,pastoralists and civic leaders arefrequently eulogised while theexacting foundational work ofearly surveyors is largely forgot-ten. They are our unsung pio-neer heroes.

Their work and contributionto civilised Gippsland life isbasic, fundamental, cardinal.Without it there could be nodefined farms, towns, communi-cation linkages and noGippsland or Victoria.

Surveys produced order, con-nections, boundaries, harmony.They reduced arguments andcourt actions. They are the fun-damental building blocks ofmodern society and civil life.

The contributions of surveyorJohn Lardner are illustrative.His surveyor footprint in earlyGippsland is huge and as pivotalas any of his contemporaries.He was also a great townsmanand leading Gippsland Catholic.

Lardner was born in Galway,Ireland, in April, 1839 to farm-ing parents. At that time it wasnot easy for a Catholic child toreceive an appropriate educationbecause of the harsh penal laws.

We learn he was “educated pri-vately”. Does this imply heobtained a hedge-school educa-tion? His may have been a sur-reptitious schooling in a barn orcabin rather than in the open air.Success in such circumstancesdepended entirely on the qualityof the teacher. If such was hisacademic fate, he was well servedby the experience.

Following his privately impart-ed education he engaged forsome years in surveying inIreland. Again the record isunclear as to what exactly thisentailed. Presumably, he workedin some type of apprenticeshiparrangement which likewise wellsuited him for his future survey-ing career in the antipodes.

By age 24 he was experiencedand confident enough to seek anappointment with theGovernment Survey Departmentin New Zealand. This portion ofhis surveying career found himworking out of Auckland andlater, in the Otago providence,out of Dunedin.

November, 1866 foundLardner in Victoria holding aposition with the Surveyor-General’s Department inMelbourne. There he gained afurther broadening of profes-sional experience in theMelbourne district, the OtwayRanges and the MorningtonPeninsula.

Between 1870 and 1873 heheaded a party laying out streetsand blocks in Parkville nearMelbourne University, thenaround Albert Park and along StKilda and Queens Roads. Somevery fine mansions and resi-dences were later erected in theseareas.

On January 4, 1869 Lardnerobtained his certificate from theLand Surveyors Board accredit-ing him as a contract surveyor.

In 1873 he came to BrandyCreek in response to a rush for‘scrub land’ following the pass-ing of the 1869 Selection Act(the second Grant Act) whichallowed for selection before sur-vey. He led a survey team to cutup for selection some 10,000acres of rough bush and forestcovered country.

As part of the task he surveyeda line from the Old Sale Road atBrandy Creek, southward to the

Strzelecki Ranges. The well-known Lardner’s Track todaylinks the Lardner district and theLardner Park function centre(Gippsland Field Days) to thePrinces Freeway betweenWarragul and Drouin.

To complete such a survey invirgin bush and forest it wasnecessary to cut a track overmany kilometres that wouldprovide a clear view for thetheodolite – a daunting andtime consuming task.

This gruelling project,undertaken by Lardner andhis team, is well told by HughCopeland in The Path ofProgress (1934). “Early sur-veyors”, he wrote, “found thatlife in the forest had no specialcharms. The work was veryarduous, and to a degree, dan-gerous. Long and difficult walksfilled in the days, and discom-forts were abundant.”

Lardner, so Copeland states,recalled how “a wall of timberand scrub, seeming to reach tothe sky, would be seen on eachside of the narrow track…” Thenumber of wet days was veryhigh adding to the overall diffi-culty of carrying out the tasksays Copeland. When it was notraining “The scrub was so wetthat every movement broughtdown a shower.”

Copeland describes Lardner as“a skilful surveyor” and “a ver-satile man in his profession” ableto switch from surveying urbanblocks to selection lay-outs andbush roads through dense forestsand soaking swamps. Throughsuch flexibility he was instru-mental in pioneering the openingup of Gippsland’s forested hillcountry to intensive agriculture.

During the following year,1874, Lardner’s party surveyedthe Koo Wee Rup Swamp, northof Westernport. This involved atarget area of 11,000 acres. Thework was carried out in the mostappalling conditions, tramping“in water sometimes above theknees, and… (cutting) throughdense ti-tree scrub”. (GippslandMercury, Sept, 1903, quoted inThe Land of the Lyre Bird, 1920).

Later he surveyed the Moeswamp for drainage purposes.He also continued to work invarious parts of the Melbournedistrict until his move to live per-manently in Gippsland in 1877and survey the new townshipsalong the Gippsland railway linethen under construction.

The main Gippsland line wasbuilt in five separate sections.The fourth, Moe to Bunyip seg-ment, was completed by March,1878. Lardner’s survey partylaid out the railway towns alongit.

The Drouin survey, the firstundertaken, occurred in May,1877. This was followed by theWarragul survey. The surveycamp, located on the Warragulstation reserve, was surroundedby tall gum-trees that stood at150 feet, and threatened to fallon the camp when winds werehigh.

In Europe, railways were builtconnecting from town to town.In Gippsland the reverse applied.The railway came first and townsgrew up on locations along thetrack.

In most cases, the railwaycaused the establishment of thetownships, though sometimes, anolder town settlement was sup-pressed in favor of the new rail-way town.

For example, Morwell Bridge,the initial township, declined infavor of the new Morwell;Westbury in favor of Moe and

Brandy Creek in favor ofWarragul.

Lardner is accredited withnearly all the town lay-outsbetween Pakenham and Morwellincluding Yarragon, Trafalgar,Moe, Bunyip and Darnum. Hiswork also included laying outrailway line connecting roads tothe new settlements.

In early 1880 Lardner shiftedpart of his survey camp toPoowong in order to survey vari-ous roads, formerly pack-tracks,in the Jeetho-Jumbunna area.

One of these passed throughthe townships of Jumbunna andOuttrim, eventually cutting thePowlett River before crossing thecoastal plains to Anderson’sInlet (now Inverloch).

Another traced a similar path-way but through Moyarra andKongwak. This was to provideroad links for selectors alreadysettling hill country and clearingfarms on the western extensionsof the Strzelecki Ranges.

John Lardner next worked onthe Great Southern Railway linebuilt through South Gippslandin the 1887 to 1889 period. Hiswas a significant contribution tothe development of the SouthGippsland region as a smallfarmer province. He surveyedthe following townships alongthe route: Korumburra,Leongatha, Koonwarra, Tarwin,Meeniyan and Nyora. Some ref-erences record him as doing sim-ilar work on the Morwell –Mirboo North line.

In July, 1890 Lardner movedto Bairnsdale to fill the positionof land officer in that district. In1896, the Sale district was addedto his responsibilities. In 1899 hebecame district surveyor for allof Gippsland east of theMorwell River. He also held thepositions of chairman of theLand Classification Board,Commissioner for taking affi-davits and many other offices.

Lardner and his wife, Annie(nee Cosgrove) had four daugh-ters and three sons. He becamepresident of the BairnsdaleRowing Club where two of hissons were keen members. Hewas also president of theBairnsdale Football Club and amember of the BairnsdaleHospital Committee.

While at Bairnsdale hisinvolvement in the Catholicparish came to the fore. Heplayed a leading role in assistingthe Our Lady of Sion Sistersmove into their Bairnsdale prop-

erty securing the residence ofCharles Swan, on Riverine St. tobecome the main convent build-ing.

The sisters soon opened asmall Catholic primary andsecondary school on that andadjoining sites before alsotaking over management ofthe local parish primaryschool some time later.

John Lardner superan-nuated out of the Land’sDepartment in October,1903 and retired toLeongatha. In his old agehis great love of sport andhis church led to a veryactive retirement where hewas a local celebrity.

He and his staunchfriend, Fr Coyne PP,

entered into several jointventures in a growing

Leongatha. (John Murphy,Faith of Our Fathers, 2001)In November, 1907 they

organised the official opening ofthe Leongatha Bowls Club.They were also the leading fig-ures in establishing the fine ninehole golf course beside the foot-ball oval and in building the“new” parish church.

The new church of StLaurence O’Toole opened inNovember 1913 and the Lardnerfamily generously donated a setof the Stations of the Cross.They later made several otherbequests and gifts to the parish.

Mother Veronica Lardner, oneof the Lardner daughters,

entered the Sisters of FaithfulCompanions of Jesus atVaucluse Convent, Richmond, inthe early 1900s.

There she was mistress of stud-ies for over 30 years and isremembered as “a very giftedperson … and an excellentteacher” (Sr. M. Clare O’ConnorFCJ The Sisters FaithfulCompanions of Jesus inAustralia, 1982). She died in1962.

Lardner lived on into his 90s,dying in 1931. He is buried atLeongatha. His wife, a son anddaughter predeceased him.Lardner’s Track and school andLardner Park serve as memorialsto his huge Gippsland pioneercontribution.

In May, 1927, three yearsbefore his death, Lardner, the“old pioneer”, was present to seeLord Somers, Governor ofVictoria, unveil a Leongathamemorial cairn, one of 17 acrossGippsland, celebratingMcMillan’s and Strzelecki’s1839-41 exploration journeys.

As it happened the unveilingcoincided with Lardner’s 88thbirthday and Lord Somersexpressed his delight that the cer-emony was occurring on such anauspicious day.

Lardner’s huge contribution tothe province was doubtless notedmentally by those present.Whose was the greater contribu-tion, they may well have won-dered: The explorers or the sur-veyors?

John Lardner - Gippsland’s premier surveyor

John Lardner

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Students serve staff

WARRAGUL - The tables wereturned at Marist Sion College asstudents waited on staff.

Each year the Remar groups atthe college look for ways tofundraise for their solidaritycamp to Wilcannia.

Last month the red caravelearned money by catering for theall important staff dinner, during

parent teacher interviews. Over 50 staff enjoyed a two

course home cooked meal. Themeal was prepared, served andcleaned by the cheery faced Year10 Remar students.

Staff were greeted at the door,served and then allowed to eatand relax in the student free zonedining room.

MARIST Sion College students ready to serve the meals.

Page 18 - Catholic Life, September 2010

WHILE the eyes of mostAustralian are firmly placed onthe canonisation of Mary of theCross MacKillop next month,there is another important cere-mony taking place in Englandthis weekend.

The long awaited beatificationceremony will take place inBermingram on September 19for the great Victorian Catholictheologian, John HenryCardinal Newman, one of themost influential EnglishCatholics of the 19th century.

He journeyed fromAnglicanism to Catholicism andused his great intellect and mas-terful writing ability to win overthousands of people to Christand the Roman CatholicChurch.

Cardinal Newman will be pro-claimed Blessed by PopeBenedict XVI, in a break withthe tradition of his Pontificatethat normally has the Pope pre-siding over canonisation cere-monies and a Vatican cardinal orarchbishop presiding over beati-fications

Newman was born in 1801into an Anglican family ofbankers. He was the first born ofJohn Newman and JemimaFourdrinier. From an early age,he had a passion for God andspiritual matters, having experi-enced his ‘first conversion’, as hedescribed it, at 15.

He was ordained an Anglicanminister in 1825, when he fin-ished his studies at theUniversity of Oxford. Threeyears later, he was appointedvicar of St Mary the VirginChurch, in Oxford.

In 1833, he organised whatbecame known as the OxfordMovement, intending to combatthree evils threatening theChurch of England – spiritualstagnation, interference from theState, and unorthodoxy.

When studying the history ofthe early Christian Fathers in1839, Newman discovered thatthe position of his own Churchwas like that of the early heretics.

He decided to retire fromOxford life, and he and a fewothers took up residence at near-by Littlemore. For three yearshe lived a strict religious life,

praying for light and guidance. In 1845, Newman was received

into the Roman Catholic Churchby Fr Dominic Barberi, anItalian theologian and a memberof the Passionist Congregation.Fr Barberi was beatified by PopePaul VI in 1963.

In becoming a Catholic,Newman had to make many sac-rifices. Many of his friendsbroke off relations with himafter his conversion and his fam-ily kept him at a distance. Hehad to resign from his teaching

fellowship and lost his onlysource of income.

Newman said that the onething that sustained him duringthis trying period was Christ’spresence in the BlessedSacrament.

Once a Catholic, Newman setout for Rome to study for thepriesthood. In 1847, he wasordained a priest and in 1848,founded the Oratory of St PhilipNeri, a small community ofpriests at Maryvale, nearBirmingham.

In 1851, the Bishops of Irelanddecided to found a separate uni-versity for Catholics and invitedFr Newman to become the firstrector. It was a demanding taskfor an older man, but, despitethe strain of 56 crossings to andfrom Ireland in seven years, hesucceeded in establishing what istoday known as UniversityCollege, Dublin.

Newman made use of severalliterary forms to express histhought, including speeches,treatises, novels, poetry and hisautobiography.

His major works includeDevelopment of ChristianDoctrine (1845), written when hewas still an Anglican, andGrammar of Assent (1870), awork reflecting the height of histhought on the dynamics of theact of faith.

As a tribute to his extraordi-nary work and devotion, PopeLeo XIII named Fr John HenryNewman a Cardinal in 1879.After a life of trials, Newmanreceived the news with joy anddeclared: “the cloud is lifted for-ever”.

Cardinal Newman died at theage of 89 at Edgbaston in 1890.

At his death he received uni-versal tributes of praise. TheTimes of London wrote“whether Rome canonises himor not he will be canonised in thethoughts of pious people ofmany creeds in England”. Hewas declared Venerable in 1991by Pope John Paul II.

Newman penned his well-known poem, Lead, KindlyLight, part of a larger work ofreligious verse and hymns enti-tled Lyra Apostolica, while on avoyage through southern Europewith his Oxford colleague, the-ologian Richard Hurrell Froude.

Lead, Kindly Light, amid theencircling gloomLead Thou me on!The night is dark, and I am farfrom homeLead Thou me on!Keep Thou my fee; I do not askto seeThe distant scene – one stepenough for me.I was not ever thus, nor pray’dthat Thou Shouldst lead me on.I loved to choose and see mypath, but nowLead Thou me on!I loved the garish day, and, spiteof fears,Pride ruled my will: remembernot past years.So long Thy power hath blestme, sure it stillWill lead me on,O’er moor and fen, o’er cragand torrent, till The night is gone;And with the morn those angelfaces smileWhich I have loved long since,and lost awhile.Once he had come to that

unshakeable sense of the missionentrusted to him by God, hedeclared:

“Therefore, I will trust Him ...If I am in sickness, my sicknessmay serve Him, in perplexity, myperplexity may serve Him ... Hedoes nothing in vain ... He maytake away my friends. He maythrow me among strangers. Hemay make me feel desolate, makemy spirits sink, hide the futurefrom me. Still, He knows whatHe is about.”

A PAINTING of Cardinal Newman

Newman beatification byPope an important event

Catechists meet at Yarragon

THIS group of diocesan catechists attended the faith formation day at Yarragon on August 21. The daywas facilitated by Jim Quillinan whose topic was “Sacraments - Masterworks of God” and the afternoonsession was facilitated by Sophy Morley who led a session on prayer which was titled “A Relationship ofMutual Love”. The day was attended by 16 catechists and friends.

BUNYIP - Columba CatholicPrimary School had a Father’sDay breakfast on September 2to thank all their wonderfulDads for their contribution totheir children’s education.

The students treated theirfathers to bacon, eggs and cerealbefore they toured the class-rooms and learning centre andenjoyed participating in classactivities.

Students certainly blitzed theirdads in the interactive white-board games.

“It was fun” said WillowDenny from Grade Two,“because I got to show him allthe things I’ve made in the class-room.”

Students and their dads werealso invited to wear silly socks toschool and bring a gold coindonation for Caritas Australia tosupport victims of the floods in

Pakistan. The school celebrated Book

Week by building bridges to tiein with this year’s Book Weektheme ‘Across the Story Bridge’.

The students produced someamazing bridges and other artworks for Book Week with theassistance of Columba artteacher Mary Kearns. “TheBook Week artworks highlight-ed the creative talents of stu-dents across the school” saidMrs Kearns.

Students also got to dress upas a book character and partici-pate in Book Week activitieswhich were organised by the sen-ior students. There was a largeand varied assortment of char-acters across the school includ-ing Red Queens, Mad Hattersand some very interesting vil-lains and superheroes.

Breakfast a treatfor Bunyip dads

JAIMIE and Riley Pullin with dad Glenn.

KOO WEE RUP - A plaque inhonor of the late Fr John Phelanwas been unveiling in St John’s

Church by Catholic Women’sLeague member EileenHanrahan on August 26.

It was blessed by Fr ThomnasMannakulathil.

He welcomed visiting CWLmembers who had travelled fromvarious parishes for the event.

The idea of the plaque camefrom Meeniyan branch membersMrs Hanrahan and RosemaryBrown whwo suggested some-thing be done to commemorateFr Phelan who was a strong sup-port of CWL.

He was spiritual director to theleague in Sale Diocese for manyyears, attending all conferencesand going to Mary GloweryHouse in Melbourne whenrequired.

The CWL diocesan committeetook up this recommendation atthe diocesan conference in Mayand it was decided Koo Wee Rupwould be appropriate as FrPhelan had been parish priestthere for many years and retiredthere.

The plaque reads: “In recogni-tion of Fr John Phelan RIP forhis contribution as spiritualdirector and dedicated supporterof Catholic Women’s LeagueVic. Wagga Wagga Inc. Erectedwith gratitude by ‘his girls.’”

After Mass Fr Mannakulathilpaid tribute to the work CWLdoes nationally, internationallyand in parishes where they sup-ported priests in many ways.

They raised money for charityand parish works and con-tributed to parish spiritual life.

He suggested more youngerwomen should join the leagueand help the long serving oldermembers for their good works.

The league also thanks theKoo Wee Rup members for pro-viding the welcome cuppa andthe obliging handyman whoinstalled the plaque in the foyer.

Catholic Life, September 2010 - Page 19

Classifieds

Bishop’sFamily

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Foundation has producedsome easy-to-read bookletsexplaining bequests whichmay be an advantage toread before seeing your

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Copies may be obtained byphoning Pat

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Let’s leavesomething forthose in need

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PRIESTS ANDDEACONS

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AT the invitation of BishopChristopher Prowse, Br LalithPerera and his team will be backfor the fourth time in January2011 to conduct a 10 day mis-sion in collaboration with theDiocese of Sale, CatholicCharismatic Renewal Sale andthe Community of the RisenLord, Melbourne.

The mission will be at the west-ern end of the diocese fromJanuary 28 to February 6.

The draft program is as fol-lows:

January 28 - Commences at7.30pm at Our Lady Help ofChristians Church NarreWarren.

January 29-30 - Four StepsRetreat at St Francis XavierCollege, Berwick Campus. The

first day will begin about 1pmand end with reconciliation.Second day begins at 9am andwill have a session of adorationafter step three and Mass at theend of the day

January 31-February 3 -Evening programs commencingat 7.30pm at Our Lady Help ofChristians Church, NarreWarren.

February 4 - Evening programcommencing at 7.30pm at StMichael’s Church, Berwick.

February 5-6 - FindingHome in Jesus Conference co-hosted by Bishop Prowse and BrLalith Perera. Commences9.30am.

The final day will concludewith Mass celebrated by BishopProwse.

Mission returnsnext January

‘Girls’ honor priest

FR Thomas Mannakulathil and Eileen Hanrahan at the unveiling.

Page 20 - Catholic Life, September 2010

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TRARALGON - At the LavallaCollege Mass to celebrate thefounder of the Marist Brothers,St Marcellin Champagnat,recognition was given to stu-dents and staff who have demon-strated particular qualities intheir lives.

These include perseverance inthe face of obstacles, a basichonesty whereby they can showthey have the courage of theirconvictions in all situations – tosay what they think and live bythat.

Furthermore, they have shown“Compassionate Hearts” in theirrelationships, a sensitivity toother people, especially thosewho are marginalised.

The college motto, “StrongMinds and CompassionateHearts”, is something they live

out.The winners of the

Champagnat Medals for 2010were: Kildare Campus: Year 12:Andrew Ware and IsobellaNocera; Year 11: GurdeepBhatti and Katrina Barrett;Year 10: Erin Lawn and DylanGlasson. St. Paul’s Campus:Year 9: Mubtasim Murshed andMeghan Keast; Year 8: LilyNash and Sam Clavarino; Year7: Nicholas Oldis and TanatswaRuzive-Makura. PresentationCampus: Tyler Briggs andCassie Rek.

Two staff members, voted for

by students, were also awardedmedals. They were Biju Vargheseand Adriana Bianconi.

The Mass, held in theChampagnat Centre, was led byFr Peter Bickley, Fr BernieO’Brien OMI and Deacon TerryRooney.

At this Mass, the two students,David Moulton and MikaelaRyan, were commissioned torepresent the college at thecanonisation of Bl. MaryMcKillop in Rome in October.That’s a great honor for themand a wonderful opportunity.

Lavalla rewards with medals

LAVALLA Catholic College student and teacher medal recipients after their awards.MORWELL – Students atSacred Heart School in Morwellare enjoying their brand newlibrary, a result of funding thatwas provided by the FederalGovernment through itsBuilding the EducationRevolution program and in par-ticular the Primary Schools forthe 21st Century program.

The official opening on July 23was attended by dignitariesincluding Senator GavinMarshall, who represented theEducation Minister the Hon.Simon Crean, Fr Peter SlaterVG, represented BishopChristopher Prowse and direc-tor of Catholic education PeterRyan.

The opening celebrationsincluded a blessing and a ‘wel-come to country’ smoking cere-mony.

Sacred Heart School principal

Rod Hayes said “This new facili-ty will not only benefit the cur-rent students at the school butfuture generations. The newlibrary incorporates a vibrantlibrary along with a largeresource room for the teachers.

“There is also a conferenceroom with kitchen facilities andlarge toilet amenities. The localcommunity generally will alsohave access and will thereforebenefit from this initiative. Thisfunding has given us the oppor-tunity to build the new libraryour children deserve and for thatwe are grateful.

“We have taken this opportu-nity in the year of Bl. MaryMacKillop’s canonisation toname our library in her honorand so it will be known as “StMary of the Cross MacKillop”library.”

New library opens

FR Peter Slater with students Jack, Mary-Jane, and Cameron outsidethe new library.

PAKENHAM - To celebrateBook Week teachers at StPatrick’s Primary School havebeen reading to their classes theentrants for “Early ChildhoodBook of the Year” and “PictureBook of the Year”.

The winners have beenannounced and to celebrate theschool asked students to dress up

as a character from one of thenominated books.

It was a colorful assembly withchildren picking a great range ofdifferent characters.

The students and teachersenjoyed all the books, and havebeen doing a range of art activi-ties relating to each of the booksin class.

It’s Book Week

PREP students Nicholas and Joshua are dressed the part as they dis-play their favorite book.