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Centacare, Catholic Diocese of Ballarat Inc. has been providing support to communities throughout theSouth West, Western Victoria and the Sunraysia for over 30 years.One of the many programs provided by Centacare is respite services for carers of people with a mental illness, who may befinding it difficult to provide the support and care to their family member or friend.The focus of the respite program is to assist carers in reducing their stress and to strengthen relationships between the carerand the person they care for, as well as supporting relationships within the broader family and social network of both the carerand care recipient.The program is flexible and adaptable to individual needs and circumstances. Centacare staff liaise with the carer, the client,and other family or friends to develop options and support which enable the carer to continue their caring role, while enhancingcapacity for their own social participation and work needs.There are a variety of options that the Centacare mental health respite program can provide to carers and clients. Some ofthese options are; in-home respite, where skilled staff can provide support in the home; social respite, that enables the carer toparticipate in social events or activities; and residential respite providing short term supported accommodation for the carerecipient; emergency respite and holiday respite- providing holiday accommodation options for the carer and ensuring support isprovided for the care recipient.For further information on the Centacare Mental Health Respite Program, please telephone (03) 5336 7900.It was indeed a privilege to attend for six Thursday evenings the “Called & Gifted” workshops, run by Clara Geoghegan and FrChris Ryan MGL.Clara lives in Ballarat North and is a woman of great theological intellect. She lectures at the Catholic Theological College inMelbourne a few days each week. Amongst the busyness of her life as a mother, wife and lecturer, she is also the Director ofthe Catherine of Siena Institute in Australia. Clara and I had often talked about the possibility of holding a workshop in Ballarat.I and 35 others are now very grateful that this possibility was able to become a reality. Clara was assisted by Fr Chris RyanMGL. Fr Chris, you may recall, was the Chaplain for the Journey of the Cross and Icon as it travelled around Australia for WorldYouth Day. Fr Chris was the priest who sat in the commentary box with Ray Martin during the Stations of the Cross. Fr Chris ishandsome, has an engaging style with a captivating speaking voice and only a mere 34 years old - a gifted and able young manwith a strong Charism of teaching. The Religious Order from which Fr Chris comes has a dedication to forming men to bepriests for the ‘New Evangelization’. I am sure this focus fits well for Fr Chris as he encourages and teaches the laity, that itreally is not all that difficult to work out what your Charisms may be.What are Charisms and what is “Called & Gifted” all about, you may be wondering? Charism is the Greek word for Gift. Byvirtue of our Baptism we are all called and we are all gifted - not some of us, but all of us.I had been eager for some years to attend a “Called & Gifted” workshop, having listened to Clara talk about her work and thewonderful way in which it empowers people to identify their gifts and pursue their vocation as lay people in the Church. Afterthe first workshop we were invited to take home a copy of “The Catholic Spiritual Gifts Inventory”. We were asked to complete itand bring it back the following week. We were asked very simple and straight forward questions which required a Never, Little,Some, Often answers. You were encouraged not to spend too much time pondering your responses rather, the first thing thatyou think that sums up, for example, your feelings to a series of questions such as “I have sensed a “call” to pray intensely forpeople or places that I didn’t know well and have prayed for that situation “until” I felt that I was done” or another example “Igladly open my home and give food and shelter to others, even when I am not prepared to have guests”. From this you comeup with scores that are then added up and compared alongside some of the most common Charisms, eg. administration,craftsmanship, encouragement, evangelism, faith, giving, healing, hospitality, intercessory prayer, leadership, mercy, music,teaching, etc. The top 5 or 6 areas where you scored the highest numbers suggest that you may have a particular Charism inthese areas.I enjoyed the task of confirming what I had previously thought were possibly my gifts and the challenge that this has presentedme in stepping out in faith, as I begin to further explore and test out my Charisms. We were treated along the way to greatCatholic teaching, learning more about the lives of the Saints and how all of these great men and women were able to do muchfor those around them, because of recognising and knowing that they had been given certain gifts.The future of our Church today depends more and more on people been able to recognise their Charisms or Spiritual Gifts, asspecial abilities given them by the Holy Spirit. For we are all companions on the journey and are therefore, all called to beenablers and channels of God’s love and redeeming presence in the world.Ruth Marquand
On 29th May the restoration of the historic Fincham & Hobday Organ at StJoseph’s Warrnambool was celebrated with a Dedication Ceremony conducted byBishop Peter Connors and a recital of Organ and Choral music. The organ,installed in 1893, has been an important part of liturgical celebrations at StJoseph’s and is valued greatly by the community. The organ underwent a partialrestoration by a group of parishioners in the 1970’s but over the past few years itbecame apparent that large sections of the organ were not functioning at all. It wasimportant to bring the organ back to full capacity and in 2006 Fr John Fitzgeraldcommissioned the restoration of the organ. This latest restoration, which tookabout two and a half years, was undertaken by Ken Turner of Goldfields PipeOrgans and has ensured the organ will continue delighting congregations for manyyears to come.Leanne Earl, who grew up in the parish but who now lives in Adelaide, was theguest organist and her recital comprised music from Bach, Couperin, Jehan Alain,Dupré and Monti. Tony Herbert, one of the St Joseph’s organists, accompaniedtwo local choirs, the St Joseph’s Singers and the Warrnambool Chorale, whichsang a variety of choral music, some sacred, some secular. The WarrnamboolString Quartet entertained in the Gathering Space during supper atthe end of the recital.About 300 people attended the evening and enjoyed very beautiful music.A DVD of the Dedication is available from St Joseph’s Parish Office for $12.00Pastoral care within a community can take a multitude of forms. In thecase of the Cororooke Parish, the illness of two three-year-old girls,Genevieve McGuane and Emily Smith, provoked a varied andcommitted response. Both girls are undergoing treatment for leukemia,and have constantly received both practical and spiritual support fromthe local community. On June 28, over three hundred people of all agesgathered in the Performing Arts Centre in Colac, for a very public act ofpastoral care: a variety concert fundraiser. The extensive programme forthe evening featured entirely local talent - even the surprise guest,operatic cobbler Peter Brocklehurst, resides in nearby Pomborneit.Moreover, countless local businesses contributed valuable items for theauction and raffles and the St Brendan’s Care Group providedhospitality.The importance of acknowledging Emily and Genevieve individually was exemplified by a group of teenagers, who performedthe requested favourite songs of each of the girls, whilst a play (in Italian!) by the St Brendan’s Primary School childrenprovided an opportunity for siblings from the Smith and McGuane families to perform alongside their friends. The spirit ofgenerosity and co-operation which permeated the evening is indicative of the strong relationships that exist within smallcommunities - bonds which are reinforced by times of difficulty.Robert O’Shea, Cororooke ParishionerOver the past year at St Joseph’s in Warrnambool a number of feast days have beenhonoured with Evening Prayer, either as vigil prayer or on the actual feast day. The aimhas been to give more people an experience of the Prayer of the Church and those takingpart have found it a very fulfilling experience. The psalms are sung in choir andleadership is shared.Since the initial Prayer, on Mary MacKillop’s Day 2008, we have become much moreconfident with our chanting skills. We have celebrated Prayer on the Feast of theImmaculate Conception (8th December), the Presentation of the Lord (2nd February), theAnnunciation of The Lord (25th March) and on Tuesday of Holy Week. As well as theabove we celebrated Evening Prayer on the Feast of Ss Peter and Paul (29th June).Siobhan Simper is pictured delivering her reflection at Evening Prayer.Mary Lancaster
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