Catholic Outlook September 2016

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DIOCESAN NEWS Catenians celebrate 30 years at Castle Hill By Peter Tilbrook, Province President THE CASTLE HILL CIRCLE of The Catenian Association celebrated its 30th anniversary with a dinner on 23 August at the Hills Lodge Hotel. The Catenian Association is an international fraternity of Catholic laymen founded in 1908. First established in Australia in 1971, more than 900 Australians are now Catenians and are formed into 31 circles, 10 of which are in the greater Sydney area. Castle Hill Circle is one of three circles in the Diocese of Parramatta. The anniversary dinner was attended by 50 Catenians and their wives, including visitors from other circles in the Sydney area, two of whom were founding members of the association in Australia. Special guests were Very Rev Wim Hoekstra EV, Rev Mick O’Callaghan and Rev Michael Gathuku. The Catenian Australian National President, George Kazs, travelled from Canberra to join the celebration. A founding member of the circle, Rob Butler, was the occasional speaker. Mr Butler presented an informative address in which he discussed historical evidence and controversies about the birthplace, family and public life of Jesus. In congratulating the circle on its 30th anniversary, the National President said that for 30 years Castle Hill Circle had offered Catenians and their families opportunities to develop friendships, share experiences and even have some fun. Like all circles, it had done this by meeting each month to pray, plan social and outreach From left: Fr Wim Hoekstra, George Kazs and Castle Hill Circle President Peter Huby. activities, and doing what Jesus and his disciples so often did — share a meal together. Mr Kazs said the regular social events with members and their wives had widened and strengthened the friendships that they had formed as Catenians and enriched their family lives. “Over the years, your circle has made a sustained and significant contribution to the pastoral ministry of the Church in the Diocese of Parramatta, not only by addressing the spiritual and social needs of Catholic laymen, but also by strengthening family life within your parish communities," he said. The Castle Hill Circle usually meets from 6.45pm on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the St Joseph’s Conference Centre, 64 MacKillop Drive, Baulkham Hills. Further information tel 0418 430 464. BISHOP MANNING LECTURE 2016 Tuesday 20 September at Kirribilli Club Why sex is not work: Stories from the sex trade. How should we respond? To be delivered by Melinda Tankard Reist The Bishop Manning Lecture is a leading Church forum hosted by the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations in celebration of the significant pastoral and social justice achievements of Bishop Kevin Manning. Arrive 5.30pm for a 6pm start, Kirribilli Club, 11 Harbourview Crescent, Lavender Bay. Tickets are free but places are strictly limited. Registrations essential: enquiries@ccer.catholic.org.au MASS TIMES AND REGULAR SERVICE Weekend Masses Saturday 8am, 9:30am (Mass in the Extraordinary Form – Latin), 6pm (Vigil) Sunday 8am, 9.30am (Family Mass), 11am (Solemn Mass), 6pm ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL Diocesan Development Fund Catholic Diocese of Parramatta Supporting the growing needs of the institutions and agencies within the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta www.parra.catholic.org.au/ddf Weekday Masses Monday to Friday 6.45am,12.30pm Public Holidays 8am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Monday to Friday 11.30am-12.20pm Sacrament of Penance Weekdays 11.15am-12.20pm Saturdays 8.30am-9am, 5pm-5.30pm Devotions Morning Prayer of the Church Monday to Friday 6.30am Saturday and Sunday 7.30am Angelus Monday to Friday noon Disclosure Statement The Diocesan Development Fund Catholic Diocese of Parramatta (DDF) is not subject to the provisions of the Corporation Act 2001 nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Deposits with the DDF are guaranteed by CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for this purpose. We welcome your investment with the DDF rather than with a profit oriented commercial organisation as a conscious commitment by you to support the Charitable, Religious and Educational works of the Catholic Church. Neither the DDF nor the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Parramatta are prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority; contributions to the DDF do not obtain the benefit of the depositor protection provisions of the Banking Act 1959; the DDF is designed for investors who wish to promote the charitable purposes of the DDF. 20 CatholicOutlook | SEPTEMBER 2016 www.catholicoutlook.org Rosary Monday to Friday after Angelus at noon Evening Prayer of the Church Monday to Friday 5.15pm Canticle of Our Lady’s Marian Movement Friday 1pm Christian meditation Tuesday 9.30am-10.15am Baptism - Sunday 12.45pm by appointment Marriages - By appointment Contact the Parish Secretary tel (02) 8839 8400 email secretary@stpatscathedral.com.au www.stpatscathedral.com.au 1 Marist Place, Parramatta
DIOCESAN NEWS Olivia Lee sitting outside the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel at ACU. Unconditional love By Elizabeth McFarlane THE DOCTORS said her younger brother may not live through the surgery and to prepare for the worst. Chris Lee could come out in a vegetative state and it would fall on the family to determine whether to switch off life support. Olivia Lee was on the phone to her mum who was at the hospital. Half an hour went by and they found out that Chris would live but that there was a chance he could be completely blind. Chris had been stabbed in the eye and had his head stomped on in the early hours of Easter Sunday in 2012 during a night out in Kings Cross after a drunken altercation. After two agonising hours, Olivia and her mum were told the doctors could save one eye. “It was a very fast two hours of miracles,” Olivia said. Having lost their father a few months earlier to cancer, Chris was grieving by going out and drinking, leaving Olivia frustrated and distant. “I was so frustrated because I wanted him to help out at home. He was the second eldest. We had a younger brother and sister and he was just going out,” she said. “I was completely numb throughout the whole two hours after finding out about his accident because I was angry at him. It hurt that he was going out every second night because I was just trying to keep what I could together.” Christian unconditional love is a fundamental commandment. However, many people can live their entire lives without experiencing the circumstances that bring this unconditional love to light. For Olivia, it was by her brother’s hospital bedside that she learnt what it meant to love unconditionally. PHOTO: ELIZABETH MCFARLANE. “We were on bad terms all of the time. But when he went into hospital, my mum called me and said that when he was coming out of the theatre, the first thing he said was that he wanted to talk to me,” she said. “When she told me, I broke down. I didn’t want to be angry at him. I went to the hospital and sat by his side. When he woke up in a daze, he looked up at me through these gauze baubles that covered his eyes after the surgery. I remember holding his hand and he said, ‘I am so sorry’, and that’s all he said, over and over again. “That’s probably my favourite moment with him because I knew in that moment what it meant to love someone unconditionally.” The healing process was arduous. Olivia took on the responsibility of driving Chris to his appointments and making herself available whenever he needed her. “I was just very 'matter of fact’ about the situation,” she explained. “I just blocked everything else out and focused on what he needed. I didn’t know if he was going to heal and I wouldn’t have blamed him if he didn’t.” Olivia was completing a Liberal Arts degree at Campion College, which she said was opening up her mind in a different way to the faith. "I just remember thinking that the only way for him to heal is for him to make his way back to God,” she said. “My biggest strength is that I can love my brothers and sister in a way that only an older sister can. But without my dad, who my siblings respected so much and were so close to, I needed someone to fill that gap. “I decided to pray a novena for nine days. I prayed to God to give me someone who would be that vessel to bring Chris back to the faith.” Choosing to see the signs By Elizabeth McFarlane IT WAS THROUGH her family’s struggles that Olivia Lee learnt to not only see the signs but to choose to see the signs of God working in her life. “It was on the ninth day of my novena that I was in the library at Campion College and a guy from class, Brendan Jackson, was sitting near me,” Olivia recalled. “I didn’t like him at the time and I thought, whatever he said to me, I was just going to be really short with him. “But he was persistent and kept asking me questions about what I liked. I wasn’t forthcoming with answers but he took that as a chance to talk more about himself, which annoyed me even more.” But it was then that Brendan shared something about himself that Olivia was not expecting to hear – Brendan’s father had also passed away. Not only that, but he ran a young male adult group to help provide a forum for young men to be mentored and supported. “It was ridiculous because it was the last day of my novena. I just thought, ‘This is the friend who is going to help my brother.’ It was what I had prayed for and that night I went and I begged Chris to attend Brendan’s group. “He agreed, after a lot of tears from me, but I knew he wasn’t keen to go. I thought, ‘God, you’ve got one chance, please don’t stuff this up.’ “I drove Chris to the group and he said he would only stay one hour and to be there to pick him up at 8pm.” Olivia made sure she was there at 8pm on the dot. She sat in the car and waited. Three hours went by and Chris eventually knocked on the car window. “It was midnight. He hugged Brendan and when he asked if Chris would attend the following week, Chris said, ‘Yes.’ I couldn’t believe it. My novena had been answered,” Olivia said. “Chris now goes to the group on his own. Sometimes he even runs the sessions.” Olivia is the Pastoral Associate at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) in North Sydney and a significant part of her Olivia Lee (centre) with students from ACU, Monica Dimon (left) and Anna Vlastelica. PHOTO: ELIZABETH MCFARLANE. role is engaging with people who are on the fringe of the faith. It is through her understanding of unconditional love and choosing to see the signs that she is able to engage students in the faith. “I just bombard people with love like Brendan bombarded me with questions. I make it all about them and I skip the small talk,” Olivia said. “The students are responsive because I am genuinely interested in them, but even if they’re not responsive, I’ll just keep walking past them, smiling and asking them about them. I have no fear of rejection anymore because of this job. “They’re not interested in the faith because they think the faith doesn’t care about them. They’re at that age where they’re making some of the most significant decisions in their lives about vocation, but they don’t know how to see the signs. They’re not choosing to see the signs.” Olivia believes one of the most difficult questions of the faith is, ‘Why is it a mystery?’ “They ask me how I can have faith in God but what they don’t yet understand is how to recognise the signs. There is beauty in choosing to see the signs of God working in your life,” Olivia said. “Even when things seemingly go so wrong. Sometimes you need those moments to learn to choose love and, ultimately, God.” www.catholicoutlook.org CatholicOutlook | SEPTEMBER 2016 21
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