Our Diocesan Community - March 2013 1 - Catholic Diocese of ...

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IN THIS ISSUE From the Bishop Taking a New Direction Ageing Gracefully Prayer Day A Warm Welcome Indonesian Immersion Choices Made Year of Grace Clergy from the Northern Zone Annual Art Exhibition Parish News Sixty Year Celebrations Open-Air Mass Centacare Toy Drive Community Involvements and Awards Sr Pam Farewelled Silver Jubilee Celebrations Clergy Annual Retreat From Catholic Education Brother Breach Scholarship Scheme Book Launches Rite of Election From the Archives The Northern Zone OUR DIOCESAN COMMUNITY (ODC) A joint publication of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat and the Catholic Education Office of Ballarat. FROM THE BISHOP- YEAR OF FAITH THE YEAR OF FAITH: I BELIEVE IN LOVE In the latter part of his time as Pope, Benedict XVI announced a “Year of Faith”. The “year” will actually be somewhat longer than a year. It began on 11 October 2012 (the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council) and will continue till 24 November 2013 (the feast of Christ the King). In this article, Bishop Paul offers some reflections on this special year. When I first heard that the Pope had announced a Year of Faith, I was puzzled. Why just a Year of Faith? What about hope? What about love? What about the other virtues, like honesty and justice? Nominating this year as a Year of Faith seemed to be rather restrictive. Surely every year should be a year of faith and all the other virtues as well! After a while, though, I realised that the Year of Faith was not intended to be restrictive. Rather, it was meant to highlight faith as a key element of the Christian life, an element that should lead on to hope and love and all the other virtues. We can see this in the letter that Pope Benedict wrote to announce the Year of Faith. There he referred to faith as a “door”, a door through which we enter the life of communion with God and with others. In fact, this is the title of the Pope’s letter, “The Door of Faith”. The background to the Pope’s announcement was his sense that many people today have lost sight of the value of Christian faith. Whereas in former times many grew up in societies where the Christian faith was an accepted part of life; this is no longer the case. The Pope sees “the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ.” So the Year of Faith is meant to be a year when people rediscover faith, or perhaps discover faith for the first time, when they find the door of faith, or find that door again. If we see faith as a door to the Christian life, it is surely a door that leads to love, for love is at the heart of Christian living. In fact, faith and love go together from the very start of the Christian journey. In a profound sense, Christian faith is a belief in love. Over the past few decades, there have been a number of songs called “I believe in love”. While these songs might not have an explicitly religious message, we could certainly borrow the title to express a basic element of Christian teaching. In a very profound sense, a Christian can say “I believe in love!” The Christian faith is a faith in love, first of all a faith in a God who is love and has shown immense love for us and secondly a faith in our call to respond with love of God and love of neighbour. In the first paragraph of his letter announcing the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict writes of Christian faith as belief in God who is Love. “To profess faith in the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is to believe in one God who is Love (See 1 John 4:8).” The message that “God is Love” is one of the most striking messages in the New Testament. In this context, to say “I believe in God” is equivalent to saying “I believe in Love”. Towards the end of his letter, the Pope refers to the link between faith and our obligation to show practical love for our neighbour. He recalls the strong words from the letter of James that faith, without charity, is dead. He also highlights the role of faith in helping us respond to those in need as we would respond to Christ himself. “Through faith, we can recognise the face of the risen Lord in those who ask for our love.” (paragraph 14) The Editorial Committee of ODC wishes to thank the many people who have contributed to this issue. We also acknowledge the support through sponsorship of the Ballarat Catholic Development Fund, Catholic Super & Australian Catholic University - Aquinas Campus. EDITORIAL BOARD Mr Allen Moloney, Sr Geraldine Mugavin, Mr Peter Schreenan, Mrs Julie Boyd, Ms Kate Lawry, Ms Fiona Tonkin, Dr Susan Crowe, Mrs Jane Collins, Sr Anne McMillan The next ODC will be in July 2013. All contributions to ODC may be forwarded to: OUR DIOCESAN COMMUNITY, PO Box 576, Ballarat 3353. Phone: (03) 5337 7179 Fax: (03) 5333 5148 Email: odc@ballarat.catholic.org.au Web: www.ballarat.catholic.org.au More recently Pope Benedict has written a message for Lent and this message is devoted precisely to the relationship between faith and love. The Pope compares the link between faith and love to the link between Baptism and Eucharist. “Baptism (the sacrament of faith) precedes the Eucharist (the sacrament of love), but is ordered to it, the Eucharist being the fullness of the Christian journey. In a similar way, faith precedes charity, but faith is genuine only if crowned by charity. Everything begins from the humble acceptance of faith (knowing that one is loved by God), but has to arrive at the truth of charity (knowing how to love God and neighbour), which remains forever, as the fulfilment of all the virtues (see 1 Corinthians 13:13).” The Pope concludes his message with a wish and a prayer “that all of you may spend this precious time of Lent rekindling your faith in Jesus Christ, so as to enter with him into the dynamic of love for the Father and for every brother and sister that we encounter in our lives.” To this, we can surely say “Amen!” + Paul Bird CSsR Bishop of Ballarat This article appeared in CathNews Perspectives on February 1, 2013 http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=34595 1 Our Diocesan Community - March 2013
taking a new direction Gemma Perkins is a teacher at St Michael & John’s Catholic Primary School, Horsham and is about to commence a course in Theology and interfaith dialogue. This course is part of the Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship and is through the University of Newcastle. The Fellowship is an initiative of the Office for the Participation of Women, under the auspices of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. She is looking forward to commencing the two year course this month. Gemma shares some of her thoughts here: Being a Christian As a Christian I have a strong commitment to faith and try to live a Godly life. I am a Eucharistic minister and was a founding member of the Hamilton Catholic Youth Group (Leadership Committee). Two years ago with many other pilgrims I made the trip to Spain for World Youth Day. I have been a mentor for University students, I volunteered at a local Catholic primary school before completing my degree, as well as being an active member of a foster care family working with troubled children. God is at the centre of my life and I try to reflect this through my actions and beliefs. Having the potential to engage in critical thinking about one’s own religious tradition and the processes of interaction with other faith traditions. As a teacher I employ critical thinking skills to evaluate issues of justice and morality. I also evaluate and critically analyse my own religious traditions. I majored in history and thus I am fascinated to learn about the history of different religions. Last year I spent five months teaching in Thailand and was able to have many insightful and interesting conversations about Buddhism. To me this experience has highlighted the similarities between our religious beliefs. For example both faiths try to live appropriately according to our various religions and both faiths would like to see a culture of peace globally. Communication and interpersonal skills in working in community settings. As mentioned above I have spent five months in Thailand teaching English. During this time I was able to further develop my understanding about Buddhism, as well as develop a repour with the school community I worked in. We (the school community) were able to work together for the benefit of the students, working side by side (both Christian and Buddhist people). I have had many roles over the years which have required me to use communication and interpersonal skills while working in community settings. People have often complimented me about the way I can relate to others and my ability to give time and energy to worthy projects and groups. I believe that this is a reflection of living a Godly life. God gives everyone different talents and he has blessed me with the ability to relate well to people from all different walks of life. A capacity to engage in a leadership role in the field of interfaith relations. Being a teacher I have encouraged people to be understanding and tolerant of each other. Part of this is respecting and understanding different faith traditions. People often fear the unknown. By encouraging discussion and interaction between different faiths, similarities are often highlighted. Especially when it comes to issues of morality and justice. Like many people I want to contribute to and assist with a culture of peace and as a teacher and member of many different groups I feel it is my job to promote interfaith dialogue. Passion for learning about one’s own and other faith traditions and for discovering possibilities and benefits of interfaith dialogue. I am always fascinated to learn not only about the journey of the Catholic Church but also about the journey of other faith traditions. By creating interfaith dialogue it allows us to not only reflect on our own beliefs and religious traditions but it also highlights the similarities in beliefs. For example, while in Thailand last year it was evident that Christian and Buddhist faiths are both working towards the same goal of developing a culture of peace globally. I had several discussions with monks who visited YES (Youth Exchange School 2) and discovered that many Thai people who practice Buddhism live very basic lives, with their faith being at the centre. They incorporate prayer into many parts of the day and generally act morally and Godly according to their religious beliefs and traditions. I am just the same and so are other Christians, God is at the centre of our lives and we try to live our lives in a Godly way. I think interfaith conversations help us not only to think about our own personal beliefs and traditions, but it also helps us to appreciate and understand the traditions of other faiths. By networking and creating interfaith dialogue we are able to work together towards a culture of tolerance, understanding and peace. May I live this day compassionate of heart, clear in word, gracious in awareness, courageous in thought, generous in love. J. O’Donohue Gemma Perkins Our Diocesan Community - March 2013 2
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Page 5 and 6: A WARM WELCOME A recent Mass to pra
Page 7 and 8: College Recognised Marian College A
Page 9 and 10: Year of Grace - Swan Hill Participa
Page 11 and 12: Clergy from the Northern Zone FR NE
Page 13 and 14: GRADUATION MASS On December 11, 201
Page 15 and 16: Open -Air Mass It was during discus
Page 17 and 18: EMMANUEL COLLEGE OPENING MASS Under
Page 19 and 20: LENDING AN EAR SR PAM FAREWELLED A
Page 21 and 22: From the Director A warm welcome to
Page 23 and 24: college mourns a great brother St P
Page 25 and 26: Vintage Vogue at Sea Lake Sea Lake
Page 27 and 28: Well Done and Thank You! We acknowl
Page 29 and 30: Sacred Beginnings On Thursday, 28th
Page 31: the northern zone During 2013 each

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