CO_Feb17_WEB

CatholicOutlook
The official publication of the Diocese of Parramatta www.catholicoutlook.org | VOLUME 20, FEBRUARY 2017
Epiphany pilgrims drawn into a
deeper encounter with Christ
Photo: Perry Mowbray
FR LES CAMPION WAS THE
FIRST RELIGIOUS MINISTER
ON THE SCENE AT THE
GRANVILLE RAIL DISASTER
40 YEARS YEARS AGO
page 3 pages 4-5
YEAR OF YOUTH TO
‘OPEN NEW HORIZONS
FOR SPREADING JOY:
YOUNG PEOPLE, FAITH
AND VOCATIONAL
DISCERNMENT’

Sisters and brothers,
Yesterday, the new American
president was sworn in amid much
pomp and ceremony. Pope Francis sent
him a short letter of congratulations along
with a telling message, which I am not sure,
is appreciated by the President. I quote:
“Under your leadership, may America’s
stature continue to be measured above all
by its concern for the poor, the outcast and
those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before
our door”.
The reference to Lazarus is particularly
poignant in the context of fear and
suspicion of outsiders. Unlike my
installation ceremony, the Holy Father’s
message was not read out at President
Trump’s inauguration. One can surmise
that perhaps the two leaders are guided by
different visions.
Scriptures on this third Sunday in
Ordinary Time also speak of new
beginnings and of the God who engenders
hope and awakens confidence in us. They
challenge us to move beyond fear, comfort,
security and self-entitlement to be a life of
faith, hope, love and service, especially the
most needy and defenceless.
In the first reading, we hear a hopeful
message from the prophet Isaiah who
ministered during a very tumultuous time
in Israel’s history.
The golden era of David and Solomon
was over. Israel became a house divided
and a pawn for much more powerful
kingdoms such as Babylon, Egypt and
Persia. They experienced shocking violence,
war, invasion and occupation. Their faith
was tested to the extreme limits. Yet in the
midst of this prolonged despair, the prophet
instilled them with a message of hope.
“The people who walked in darkness have
seen a great light; those who lived in a land of
deep darkness – on them a light has shone.”
This was no pie in the sky stuff. This
was the perennial call to faith because evil
THE BISHOP'S DIARY – FEBRUARY 2017
THE BISHOP’S HOMILY
Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv
2 Convenes meetings of the Deans and Episcopal Vicars of the Diocese.
5 Celebrates Pontifical Mass of the 5 th Sunday in Ordinary Time
at St Thomas Aquinas Parish, Springwood, at 9.45am.
7 Attends an Ecumenical Service for the commencement of
the Law Term at Leigh Memorial Church, Parramatta.
7 Convenes a meeting of the Heads of Agencies of the Diocese;
attends a meeting of the Diocesan Finance Council.
9 Celebrates Mass for World Day of the Sick at St Patrick’s Church,
Blacktown, at 10.30am.
9 Attends Solemn Mass for the Feast of St Maroun,
St Maroun’s Maronite Catholic Cathedral.
10 Celebrates Mass for the Opening of the College
Year of St Dominic’s College, Kingswood.
15 Celebrates Opening College Mass at St Andrew’s College,
Marayong, with the 50 th Anniversary Celebration of the Sisters of
the Holy Family of Nazareth foundation of the junior campus.
Homily for 3 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta, 22 January 2017
16 Convenes a meeting of the Council of Priests and College of Consultors.
17 Celebrates Opening School Mass for St Luke’s College, Marsden Park.
and injustice do not have the last word.
The faithful remnants are those who’ve
been enlightened and as such live in the
light of faith.
In the Gospel story, we see the fulfilment
of Isaiah’s prophecy through the actions
of Jesus. It tells us of how he goes about
proclaiming the reign of the kingdom and
acting in favour of that kingdom despite the
rampant and overwhelming presence of evil.
John’s arrest should have served as a
warning to him. Yet instead, it was a catalyst
for Jesus’ full immersion into a life of service
and witness. It marked a break with the past
and a launch into deeper waters of the future.
He went to those places that Isaiah foretold
and fulfilled the prophecy concerning the
hopes of the oppressed people.
Jesus refused to sit back and allow
sin, evil, injustice, oppression to crush
humanity. He proclaimed and acted in
favour of the kingdom of peace, justice,
dignity, freedom and liberation.
Sisters and brothers
We live in a time, which in many ways
is not unlike that of God’s people in exile.
The rise of anti-immigration abroad and
at home, the mistrust of government
institutions, of global economy or even of
religious organisations, etc, are indicative of
the sense of fear which is as powerful today
as it was for the Israelites living without
visible identity symbols and structures.
But whereas others offer to us the
solution in the politics of protectionism,
in the Gospel of prosperity, in selfentitlement
and narcissism, Jesus provides
us with the alternative vision. That vision
is inclusive, altruistic, self-effacing and
other-empowering
Beginning his ministry from Galilee of the
nations, Jesus draws us beyond the world
of our own: our own familiarity, security,
culture, language and customs.
It is interesting to know that the
archaeological discoveries in the Galilee
show a high level of tolerance for other
cultures. In choosing to minister and
call his first disciples in the melting pot
of Galilee, Jesus shows himself a man for
others and a boundary-breaking rabbi
quite unlike his contemporaries.
Galilee of the nations is indicative of
his radical, inclusive, ‘sans frontier’ kind
of love, acceptance, embrace, affirmation,
compassion, forgiveness and solidarity,
especially towards the most vulnerable
and marginalised.
In Jesus we meet up with a God who
awakens our responsibility to not ignore
everyone else. In him, we meet up with a
God who frequently asks us what we are
doing for the least of his brothers and sisters.
We might not be able to do great things,
but we know that we need to be a part of
a life that has more dignity and happiness
for all. This God makes us live with more
clarity and dignity.
This is a God who helps us to suspect
that evil, violence and hatred like what
happened in Melbourne don’t have the
last word. In the power of his life, death
and resurrection, we partake of God’s love
which is stronger than death.
“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light”. We are the people
who have seen the great light of Christ;
who have experienced his love and who
have been called to share his light and love.
In a world of changing values and a crisis
of trust, we must adhere to the constant
message of faith, hope and love for all; we
must continue – as Pope Francis maintains
– to be a church where everyone can feel
welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged
to live according to the Gospel.
And as long as we embody that vision
of church in our practice, we become a
lighthouse for the world. We pray for the
strength and courage to live by the demands
of God’s radical and inclusive love, “lest the
cross of Christ be emptied of its power”.
17 Attends Blessing and Opening of the Ailsa Mackinnon Centre,
OLMC Parramatta.
17 Celebrates Opening Mass for the 50 th Anniversary
Celebrations of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal at
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta, 7.30pm.
18 Presides at Blessing and Official Opening of James Dixon House
and Seminary Residence at the Seminary of the Holy Spirit.
19 Celebrates Pontifical Mass of the 7 th Sunday in Ordinary Time
with the commemoration of the anniversary of death of Fr
Pere Receveur at La Perouse Museum, La Perouse.
19 Celebrates Pontifical Mass of the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
with the closing of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Conference
at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Seven Hills, at 5.00pm.
21 Appears before the Royal Commission into Institutional
Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
22 Concelebrates the Episcopal Ordination of the Most
Rev Gregory Homeming OCD as the sixth Bishop of
Lismore at St Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore.
26 Celebrates Solemn Pontifical Mass for the 8 th Sunday in
Ordinary Time with the beginning of the Seminary Academic
Year at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta, at 11am.
26 Celebrates Pontifical Mass for the 8 th Sunday in Ordinary Time with
Tamil Chaplaincy at Sacred Heart Parish, Westmead, at 5.30pm.
CONTENTS
THE BISHOP’S HOMILY...................... 2
NEWS & EVENTS........................ 3, 6, 7
CATHOLIC YOUTH..........................4, 5
APPOINTMENTS.................................. 6
LIFE, MARRIAGE & FAMILY
..................................................17, 19, 22
PARISH PROFILE..............................8, 9
DIOCESAN NEWS
.................................... 10, 11, 18, 20, 23
DWF APPEAL...............................12, 13
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
..................................................14, 15, 16
PERMANENT DIACONATE..............21
CatholicOutlook
The official publication of the
Diocese of Parramatta
Publisher:
Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv
Bishop of Parramatta
Tel (02) 8838 3400
Fax (02) 9630 4813
PO Box 3066,
North Parramatta, NSW, 1750
Email: bishop@parra.catholic.org.au
Website: www.parracatholic.org
Editor:
Jane Favotto
Tel (02) 8838 3409
comms@parra.catholic.org.au
PO Box 3066,
North Parramatta, NSW, 1750
Journalist:
Jordan Grantham
Designers:
Chris Murray
Stephen Poleweski
School news:
Catholic Education Office
Tel (02) 9840 5609
news@parra.catholic.edu.au
Deadlines:
Editorial and advertising
– 10 th of the month prior to publication
Advertising:
Tel (02) 8838 3409
comms@parra.catholic.org.au
Accounts:
Alfie Ramirez
Tel (02) 8838 3437
ARamirez@parra.catholic.org.au
Printing:
Rural Press Printing, North Richmond
40,500 copies of Catholic Outlook
are distributed monthly through 47
parishes and 86 schools. All material
in this publication is copyright and
may not be reproduced without
permission of the editor. Catholic
Outlook is a member of the Australasian
Catholic Press Association.
2 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

NEWS & EVENTS
On 18 January 1977, an express train from Mt Victoria bound for Central Station derailed at Granville.
The packed commuter train crashed into a row of steel pylons, bringing down the Bold Street bridge.
Photo: Blue Mountains City Library.
Photo: Blue Mountains City Library.
40-year anniversary of Granville Rail Disaster
ON THE MORNING of 18 January
1977, Fr Les Campion was preparing
for the 9 o’clock Mass at Holy Trinity
Church, Granville. As he walked to the
church, he could hear the telephone ringing
in the presbytery.
As he picked up the phone, Fr Les heard
panic straining the familiar voice of a
parishioner who lived opposite the nearby
railway line: “Father, please get down here,
there’s been a shocking accident.”
Last month marked the 40 th anniversary
of what has become known as the Granville
Rail Disaster when an express train from Mt
Victoria bound for Central Station derailed
and crashed into a row of steel pylons,
bringing down the Bold Street bridge.
Fr Les was the first religious minister to
arrive at the scene of Australia’s worst rail
disaster, which claimed the lives of 83 people
and seriously injured 213 others. Scores more
were deeply traumatised by their experiences
on that day.
In the years that followed, Fr Les was a
participant at the annual Day of the Roses
Memorial Service where he blessed the 83
roses representing the people who died.
This year, a memorial Mass for the
souls of those who died was celebrated at
Holy Trinity Church in Granville where
Fr Les had been the parish priest until his
retirement in 2008.
On 18 January, the commemorations
began with a remembrance ceremony at
the Memorial Wall in Bold Street. The
ceremony was followed by a service at St
Mark’s Anglican Church, a wreath-laying
ceremony at the memorial, then a traditional
Day of the Roses commemoration where
83 roses were thrown on to the tracks in
honour of each victim.
In January 2007, on the 30 th anniversary
of the disaster, Fr Les remembered the
events of that fateful day (Catholic Outlook,
February 2007). From the congested
roadway, he recalled, there was no
indication of the devastation that lay in the
railway cutting below.
“I checked in first with a policeman and
introduced myself as the local priest. I
remember his words to this day: ‘There’ll
be a lot of work to do here, Father, believe
you me.’”
Down on the tracks, Fr Les accessed
car four, its wooden frame splintered like
matchwood, dust and particles hanging
thickly in the air. “Though the vision was
limited I could see people. The injuries were
unbelievable, yet there was no sound, no
noise at all inside.
“‘Can anyone hear me?’ I called. ‘I’m a
priest. I’m here to help you. Help is on its
way. Cry out if you can hear me now.’ But
there was no response at all,” Fr Les said.
“‘I’m here. God is here. Let’s just talk
with him. If you can say it now, say the Our
In the years that followed the Granville Rail Disaster, Fr Les Campion was a participant at the annual Day of the Roses
Memorial Service where he blessed the 83 roses representing those who died.
Photo: Diocese of Parramatta/Alfred Boudib.
Father with me.’ I said a few prayers, praying
with them wherever they were, and I gave a
general absolution.”
As he moved further into the shattered car,
it gave a settling lurch, and, looking back,
he realised his entrance was now blocked.
“Somehow or other I got back into the gap
between the carriage and the bridge and got
out,” he recalled.
Leaking LPG gas from ruptured tanks
under the crushed carriages further
frustrated rescue efforts to get to the victims.
A single spark from a torch could have caused
a massive explosion under the collapsed
bridge. Blowers were brought in to dissipate
the gas, and oxygen was pumped in.
T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F
NOTRE DAME
A U S T R A L I A
Against this desperate toil Fr Les stayed
at the scene for several more hours, giving
comfort to the rescuers: “Many were
professionals who were themselves in
shock, feeling helpless at the enormity of
it all.”
He praised the community response
that came to bear on the disaster scene
that day. “In this industrial area, in the
factories, all the resources and manpower
that could be marshaled were immediately
on offer,” he said.
Fr Les Campion was Parish Priest of Holy
Trinity Parish, Granville, from 1975-2008.
He died on 15 March 2014, aged 87.
With Dan McAloon.
Graduate
employment
rate
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BY STUDENTS
qilt.edu.au
Notre Dame Law student
THERE’S STILL TIME TO APPLY FOR SEMESTER 1
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FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 3

CATHOLIC YOUTH
Year of Youth: ‘Open New Horizons for Spreading Joy:
By James Camden
CYP Director
IT WOULD BE AN understatement to
describe the unprecedented focus on
young people to take place in the Australian
and international Catholic Church
over the coming years as three significant
events align for youth and young adults.
Year of Youth
The Bishops of Australia have invited
Catholics across the country to join in
celebrating a Year of Youth from the
beginning of Advent 2017 to the end
of 2018.
The Year of Youth celebrates 10 years since
World Youth Day was hosted in Sydney
during 2008 with half a million participants
from across the globe.
Many would agree that that this significant
milestone deserves recognition as the
catalyst for growth and development of
youth ministry in Australia.
Some suggest that no other host World
Youth Day country has recognised this
transformation as this local church hopes to.
The Year of Youth will focus on the
theme, ‘Open New Horizons for Spreading
Joy: Young People, Faith and Vocational
Discernment’. The emphasis is on local
discussion and dialogue in parishes, schools,
youth groups and dioceses.
School Evangelisation Teams
Catholic Youth Parramatta, in collaboration
with the Youth Council and Catholic
Education Diocese of Parramatta, are in
the early stages of planning a structure and
support framework for the implementation
of Evangelisation Teams for each secondary
school. These collaborative and dynamic
groups involve, but aren’t limited to,
passionate young teachers and local parish
youth group leaders who feel called to
accompany and animate the formation of
school students during this exciting chapter
in our Australian Church.
LIFTED Breakfast with the Bishop
SATURDAY 4 MARCH FROM 9.00AM-11.30AM
CYP invites secondary school students (16+), youth and young adults
to breakfast with Bishop Vincent.
Join us as we ‘launch into the deep’ this 2017!
$5 donation towards a full buffet breakfast
Venue is the Novotel Sydney, Rooty Hill
RSVP Friday 24 February via CYP Facebook
or by email to James Camden jcamden@parra.catholic.org.au
LIFTED BREAKFAST WITH THE BISHOP
CatholicCare Social Services
Diocese of Parramatta
Manager of Pastoral Services
CatholicCare Social Services is currently recruiting a Manager of
Pastoral Services, who will be responsible for providing leadership
and management to a team of Lay, Clergy and Religious Chaplains.
Based in Blacktown, the role will manage Pastoral Services
Programs that deliver Hospital and Prison Chaplaincy
services across the Diocese of Parramatta.
For a confidential discussion about this role or to obtain a
Position Description please contact Gregory tel 02 8822 2222
or email an updated CV to careers@ccss.org.au
Applications close on Sunday 19 February 2017
4 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

CatholicYouthParra @cyp_parramatta @CatholicYouthParra
Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment’
Synod of Bishops
This 12-month period will be part of a
journey of dialogue and discernment as the
Church in Australia contributes to the next
Synod of Bishops, announced recently by
Pope Francis, to be held in Rome during
2018 with its focus on “Young People, Faith
and Vocational Discernment”.
Australian Catholic Youth Festival
The third significant event announced last
December was by the Archbishop of Sydney,
Anthony Fisher OP, who is also the Australian
Catholic Bishops Delegate for Youth.
“To launch the Year of Youth, I invite
young people across the country to
the Australian Catholic Youth Festival,
7-9 December 2017 in Sydney. The festival
will bring your peers and Church leaders
together to celebrate the young Church
of Australia.’
The three-day festival will be a youthful
and energetic celebration hosted by the
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in
partnership with the Archdiocese of Sydney.
The surrounding dioceses, including
Parramatta, are generously supporting this
whole of Church celebration that will be
held at Sydney Olympic Park and at other
key locations across the city.
It is expected to attract more than
15,000 young people who will celebrate
their faith together.
The festival grew out of Australia’s
involvement in the World Youth Days and a
desire over many years to gather the nation’s
Catholic youth together. The first festival was
held in Melbourne in 2013 and the second in
Adelaide in 2015.
The Diocese of Parramatta is proud to
have tens of staff and volunteers already
contributing to this huge gathering, which
we expect will draw more than 3000 of our
own young people from Western Sydney
and the Blue Mountains.
Bishop Vincent will host a LIFTED
Breakfast with young people from schools,
movements and parishes on Saturday 4
March to launch 2017!
Over the coming years, the whole
Church is invited to pray for and dialogue
with young people so that a true and
accurate picture of their engagement,
desires, concerns and ideas for the future
might be articulated and realised into
the future.
Photos: Alphonsus Fok & ACBC
Australian Catholic
Youth Festival, December 2017
Year of Youth 2018
Celebrating 10 years since Sydney
Synod of Bishops 2018
Pope Francis has announced that
Over 15,000 young people will gather hosted World Youth Day in 2008 it
the next Synod of Bishops will
at Sydney Olympic Park for a three-day will be a time for local discussion and focus on young people, faith and
encounter with Christ and their peers dialogue for young people and their vocational discernment’. The young
2 from across 017
Australia. It will launch the
participation in the Church.
2
Church
018
in Australia will contribute
Year of Youth.
to this momentous event through
innovative opportunities during the
Festival and the Year of Youth.
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FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 5

NEWS & EVENTS
New Appointments
Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv has confirmed the following appointments
in the Diocese of Parramatta:
College of Consultors
Very Rev Fr Peter Williams VG EV
Very Rev Fr Christopher de Souza VG EV PP
Very Rev Fr Wim Hoekstra EV PP
Very Rev Fr Peter Blayney JV EV PP
Very Rev Fr Paul Roberts EV
Rev Msgr Ron McFarlane EV PP
Very Rev Fr John Hogan
Rev Fr Fernando Rodriguez MG PP
Effective 3 January 2017
Very Rev Fr Christopher de Souza VG EV
Vice Rector of Holy Spirit Seminary
For a term of three years
from 1 January 2017
Very Rev Fr Wim Hoekstra EV
Dean of Studies, Holy Spirit Seminary
For a term of three years
from 1 January 2017
Very Rev Fr Peter Blayney JV EV PP
Episcopal Vicar for Canonical Matters
Rev Fr Reginaldo Lavilla MSP
Assistant Priest
St Matthew’s Parish, Windsor
Chaplain to Catholic Charismatic Renewal
For a term of two years,
Effective 18 November 2016
Rev Fr Fernando Montano Rodriguez MG PP
Director of Pastoral Formation
Holy Spirit Seminary
For a term of three years,
Effective 1 December 2016
Rev Fr Ian McGinnity PP
Foundation Committee of the
Clergy Support Foundation
Effective 10 November 2016
Very Rev Fr Bob Bossini PP
Foundation Committee of the
Clergy Support Foundation
Effective 10 November 2016
Rev Fr John Paul Escarlan
Director of Priestly Vocations
For a term of three years
from 1 February 2017
Rev Fr Chris Dixon
Administrator
St Patrick’s Parish, Guildford
Effective 1 January until 1 June 2017
Rev Fr Thomas Bui
Assistant Priest
St John XXIII Parish, Glenwood-Stanhope
Gardens
Commencing 1 March 2017
Rev Fr Robert William
Assistant Priest
Holy Trinity Parish, Granville, and Holy Family
Parish, East Granville
Commencing 15 February 2017
Diocesan Facilities Management Committee
Very Rev Fr Peter Williams VG EV (Chairman)
Very Rev Fr Robert Bossini PP
Very Rev Fr John Hogan
Rev Fr Ian McGinnity PP
Mr Geoff Officer
Mr Tony Jose
Mr Martin Lugod
Effective 24 January 2017 for a term of three years
CatholicCare Social Services Council
Ms Evelyn Picot
Mrs Mary Creenaune
Mr Simon Napoli
Mr Nick Maley
Ms Dianne Dawson
Sr Maria Lawton RSM
Effective 4 January 2017 for a term of three years
Diocesan Audit and Enterprise Risk
Committee
Sr Maria Wheeler RSC
Effective 24 January 2017 for a term of three years
Professional Standards Consultative Panel
Dr David Leary OFM
Effective 20 January to 20 June 2017
Mr Mark Buhagiar
Director, Clergy Health and Wellbeing
Commencing 1 February 2017
Mr Chris Ohlsen
Diocesan Master of Ceremonies
For a term of three years, from 1 February 2017
There are no protections offered for the vast majority of the faithful who wish to continue to practice their beliefs.
MPs should respect the right to
hold a different view on marriage
ALL MEMBERS OF religious groups
deserve the right to not participate
in ‘same-sex marriage’ ceremonies
if they hold a traditional view of marriage,
the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
(ACBC) said in a submission on 20 January.
The Australian Senate has established
a select committee to examine draft
exemptions for ministers of religion,
marriage celebrants and religious groups
so they do not have to participate in ‘samesex
marriage’ ceremonies, should the law
be changed. The Select Committee on
Same-Sex Marriage is expected to report
on 13 February.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP,
Chair of the Bishops Commission for
Family, Youth and Life, said changing
the definition of marriage would have
an impact on all the members of the
Catholic Church, “but perhaps the most
significant impact would be on ordinary
parishioners trying to live their Catholic
faith in their daily lives.”
“So while the ACBC appreciates the basic
protections offered, it must acknowledge
that there are no protections offered for the
vast majority of the faithful who wish to
continue to practice their beliefs,” he said.
“People should be free to decline to
endorse by participation, activities or
ceremonies that are contrary to their
beliefs. For example, people may decline
to involve their businesses in activities
that they consider may be harmful to the
community or which may be harmful to the
environment. Likewise, in the case of ‘samesex
marriage’ people with a conscientious
objection should be free to decline to be
involved, including where their business is
approached to provide services.
“The point at issue when services are
declined is not the sexual orientation of
the person involved: Christians and their
businesses serve people of all backgrounds
without question every day. The issue is
whether they wish to endorse someone
else’s activity or belief by providing
marriage counselling and preparation, a
wedding reception venue, or some other
support for a ‘same-sex wedding’ ceremony
or celebration.
“If religious liberty is not given greater
support than the minimal exemptions
allowed, any redefinition of marriage in
law is very likely to infringe upon the right
of faith-based schools to choose staff that
accord with their beliefs and mission, and
upon the right of parents and families to
choose a school that accords with their
beliefs and best suits their child.”
A copy of the full submission is available
at: https://www.catholic.org.au/about-us/
public-policy-office-contact
RIDES
The Office for Worship is offering Liturgical Ministry
Courses in 2017, open to all parishes and individuals seeking
formation and training for serving at the altar.
Held at the Diocesan Assembly Centre in Blacktown on Mondays and at
St Nicholas of Myra in Penrith on Thursdays, the formation courses are
for anyone who is interested in becoming a Minister of the Word, Holy
Communion, Communion to the Sick and Dying, Adult Altar Server or
Acolyte. Please refer to the dates below for the ministry course schedule:
Bookings close 16 February 2017
For more information about these courses and to register, please contact the Office for Worship
tel (02) 8838 3456 or send an email to MLWalsh@parra.catholic.org.au
ST. PATRICK’S
Family Festival
HOSTED BY
ENTERTAINMENT
FOOD
SATURDAY, 18TH MARCH
2.00PM - 5.00PM
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL PRECINCT,
1 MARIST PLACE, PARRAMATTA
VISIT WWW.PARRALMF.ORG.AU/ST-PATRICKS-DAY
6 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

Achievements recognised on Australia Day
BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST Emeritus
Prof Alan Mackay-Sim is the 2017
Australian of the Year.
The award recognises
Prof Mackay-Sim’s
lifetime of dedicated
research and international
leadership, which has
led to ground-breaking
advances in the treatment
of spinal cord injuries.
His decades of work have
given hope to thousands of
Australian of the Year
Emeritus Prof
Alan Mackay-Sim.
Australians and people across the world with
spinal cord injuries.
In 2005, the Archdiocese of Sydney
awarded a $50,000 grant to a research team at
Griffith University, led by Prof Alan Mackay-
Sim, to support adult stem cell research.
Prof Mackay-Sim’s team was researching
the development of therapies to utilise stem
cells extracted from patients’ nasal lining to
replace those lost to disease.
The Selection Committee concluded that
this project was of first-class scientific merit,
markedly original, and had good long-term
therapeutic possibilities.
Prof Mackay-Sim is a global authority on
the human sense of smell and the biology of
nasal cells and led the world’s first clinical
trial using these cells in spinal cord injury.
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The 2017 Senior Australian of the Year is Sr
Anne Gardiner AM of the Tiwi Islands.
Sr Anne, aged 85, has given a lifetime to
connecting cultures and championing the
power of community. Her selfless approach
to helping others and sense of giving have
made a big impact at a grassroots level.
A member of the Daughters of Our Lady
of the Sacred Heart, at age 22 Sr Anne was
asked to move to Bathurst Island to live
among the Tiwi people. In the 62 years
since, she has devoted her life to enriching
community, enhancing opportunity and
supporting the Tiwi culture.
An advocate of peace, love and the
traditional Tiwi way of life, Sr Anne has
worked tirelessly with the local people to
document and preserve the Tiwi language
for future generations.
As the Principal of the local primary school,
Sr Anne educated generations of children
while also establishing community clubs,
from mothers’ groups to Little Athletics. She
runs regular prayer meetings, founded an op
shop and established a café to raise funds to
support her much-loved community.
In this year’s Australia Day Honours, Phil
Glendenning, Director of the Edmund Rice
Centre (ERC) and President of the Refugee
Council of Australia, has been made a
Member (AM) of the Order of Australia.
In the Diocese of Parramatta, Phil was a
teacher at Gilroy College, Castle Hill, from
1988-90 and worked with the Christian
Brothers Homeless Youth Refuge and After-
Care Project at Mt Druitt from 1985-87.
He has been the Director of ERC since
its establishment in 1996 and has been
the President of the Refugee Council of
Australia since 2012.
“This award is about all those who work
for social and environmental justice and
human rights across Australia and beyond
and I am humbled to accept this award on
their behalf,” he said.
“While it is important this work is
recognised, what’s more important is that we
recognise this work is not finished. There is
still so much work to be done.”
Prof Greg Craven was
made an Officer (AO) of
the Order of Australia
in the General Division
in recognition of his
distinguished service
to tertiary education
through leadership Prof Greg Craven AO.
and representational roles with a range
of institutions, to the Catholic Church in
Australia, and to constitutional law.
“I don’t see this as a personal award
but as one really recognising what all my
NEWS & EVENTS
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull congratulates Senior
Australian of the Year Sr Anne Gardiner AM.
colleagues at ACU have achieved over the
last decade,” he said.
Chris Lee and Marco Capobianco have
been named co-recipients of The Hills
Council’s Citizen of the Year Award.
They both graduated from Gilroy
College in 2011 and knew there was a
need to help young men deal with mental
health challenges.
They set up Conviction Group, which has
helped encourage young men to open up
and talk to people about any challenge they
are facing.
Helping Catholic
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FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 7

PARISH PROFILE
A plum parish with
Good Shepherds
By Jordan Grantham
GOOD SHEPHERD PARISH,
Plumpton, is thriving on the vine.
The parish is an epicentre of youth
and multiculturalism, in one of the youngest
and most diverse parts of the Diocese
of Parramatta.
The parish bustles with a wide range of
community and devotional groups, which
were showcased in 2016 at the Spirit Alive
Parish Expo.
The parish expo was on Pentecost to
reveal the power of the Holy Spirit in the
vigour and variety of the Catholic life in the
parish. This year, the parish will host a mini
expo around Pentecost.
The Mass incorporated cultural expressions
from many of the ethnic groups in the
parish, including Filipino, Samoan, Tongan,
Vietnamese, Maltese, Spanish, Malaysian,
Singaporean, Sri Lankan and Nigerian.
The Spirit Alive expo consists primarily of
stalls sharing each culture’s food, and stalls
for each of the parish groups.
Religious orders are present in the parish,
including the Capuchin Franciscan Friars,
the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth
and the Marist Sisters.
Their stalls are joined by the Legion
of Mary, Parish Rosary Group, Fatima
Group, Couples for Christ, Knights of the
Southern Cross and the St Vincent de Paul
Society conference.
Young people attend Youth for Christ,
Antioch and other youth groups.
Keeping with the theme of the Good
Shepherd, the Little Lambs playgroup meets
weekly and is well attended.
There are liturgical and educational
groups, such as the nine choirs, catechists in
state schools, the Rite of Christian Initiation
of Adults, and pastoral planning.
The parish places great emphasis on adult
faith formation and each year sends four
parishioners to participate in the Institute
for Mission courses, Beginning Theology or
Formation for Reflective Ministry.
The Parish Priest, Fr Gerard O’Dempsey
OFM Cap, said the courses helped to give
the parish leaders confidence and a solid
foundation in ministry.
Local schools are present: Good Shepherd
Primary School, St Francis of Assisi Primary,
Loyola Senior High and St Clare’s Catholic
High School.
Sunday 15 January marked 27 years of the
colourful and exotic feast of Santo Niño de
Cebu in the parish. Santo Niño de Cebu is an
important feast in the central Philippine city
of Cebu, held in honour of the Infant Jesus.
The celebrations in Cebu span nine days
and contain processions with many forms of
traditional dance.
Good Shepherd Parish hosts the Cofradia
del Santo Niño de Cebu, which celebrates
Santo Niño on the last day of the feast.
Parents and children at Good Shepherd
participate in sinulog, a striking ritual
prayer-dance, where all participants carry a
small statue of the Infant Jesus and dance in
honour of Him.
At the conclusion of the sinulog, the group
holds statues of the Infant Jesus above their
heads and receives a blessing. This year the
Papal Nuncio gave the blessing.
The parish also hosts the Chifley Amateur
Radio Club, which started in 1983. This
surprising addition had a place at the Spirit
Alive Parish Expo.
The club has put on displays for the parish,
demonstrating the technical equipment of
radio communication. The club promotes
obtaining ham radio licences to interested
members of the public.
The parish amazes Ray Sparks, a former
club president. “It’s incredible what they do
for the community,” he said. Ray also assisted
the parish with its computer network.
The local member for the State Division
of Chifley, Ed Husic, represented the local
community at last year’s Spirit Alive Expo.
Inside the church is a statue of Our Lord as the Good Shepherd. Photo: Jordan Grantham.
The division of Chifley is named after
the 16 th Prime Minister of Australia, Ben
Chifley, who was a practising Catholic and
represented much of the Blue Mountains and
some of the Hawkesbury region, as member
for the Federal Electorate of Macquarie.
Fr Gerard explains the meaning of the
church building, which distils the essence of
the community.
The striking church is influenced by postconciliar
theology to resemble an ancient
tent of the people of Israel. Opened in 1988,
the church’s outer surface is entirely steel
sheeting because of the expense of bricks at
the time.
5 Franciscan Fun Facts
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin began as a reform of the Franciscan Friars, devoted to
a more austere observance of their religious rule.
The Capuchins were effective missionaries in the Counter-Reformation; living lives of
poverty and ministering to the working class.
The cappuccino coffee is named after the order. It started in Vienna, originally named the
‘kapuziner’. There was also a ‘franziskaner’ or Franciscan coffee.
The Capuchin Church in Vienna houses the Imperial Crypt, which is the
resting place for members of the House of Habsburg, especially the
Imperial Family.
The capuchin monkey is also named after the order. The monkey’s
brown appearance reminded Latin American explorers of the
order’s brown habit.
A full immersion baptismal font can be
opened before the altar. Fr Gerard shares
an amusing anecdote: once a large man had
a full immersion baptism, displacing the
water and flooding the church carpet.
Four statues represent the different
aspects of the Church’s heritage. St Padre
Pio represents the Capuchin influence. Our
Lady of La Vang represents Vietnamese
culture. The Infant Jesus reminds all of the
community’s devotion to Santo Niño.
Front and centre is a statue of Our Lord as
the Good Shepherd. He holds a lamb over
his shoulder, representing his tender care for
each person.
50 Years Celebration
of the Catholic Charismatic
Renewal
17th, 18th & 19th
Friday 17th February: Opening Mass
Celebrated by Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv
7.30pm, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta
Saturday 18th February: 9.00am - 4.00pm
Sunday 19th February: 11.00am - 4.00pm (Closing Mass at 4pm)
Venue: Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Seven Hills
7 Grantham Road, Seven Hills NSW 2147
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John Jordan 0488 276 371
Website: www.ccrparramatta.org
Presenters:
Archbishop Christopher Prowse DD Catholic Archbishop
of Canberra, Goulburn & Administrator Diocese of Waga Waga
Father Ken Barker – Founder and spiritual director of MGL
Lalith Perera – Founder and the spiritual director of CRL
“I will make breath enter you and you will
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Weekend Holy Spirit Mission
Children’s Ministry, Sacrament of
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Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
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Free coffee & tea provided, Lunch available for purchase
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8 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

Fr Gerard O’Dempsey: called
to the Capuchins
By Jordan Grantham
VINTAGE MODEL BUSES and many
books fill Fr Gerard O’Dempsey’s
busy office at Good Shepherd Parish,
Plumpton.
“A tidy desk is the sign of an unoccupied
mind!” he says with a laugh.
This is Fr Gerard’s second appointment
as Parish Priest of Plumpton Parish, first
serving here in the late 1990s, after being
ordained in 1995.
As Parish Priest, he is interested in Fr
James Mallon’s program for parish renewal,
Divine Renovation, which focuses on
parishes reaching out and making disciples.
Fr Gerard also serves on the Pastoral
Planning Reference Team, which is
a sounding board for the ongoing
implementation of the Diocesan Pastoral
Plan, Faith in Our Future.
The humourous and warm priest has gone
wherever God wills him, from his childhood
home of Ipswich in Queensland to Papua
New Guinea, where he discovered his
vocation to the Capuchin Order.
Fr Gerard also served in the North
American Capuchin Novitiate from
2006-12, where he helped others discover
whether they had a Capuchin vocation.
Fr Gerard offers his interviewer a coffee,
which is appropriate for a member of the
order that the cappuccino was named after.
Fr Gerard first went to PNG as a layman
after seeing an advertisement in Brisbane’s
Catholic Leader newspaper requesting lay
missionaries to teach music.
The advertisement also mentioned
that the ability to drive a bus would be
beneficial. He saw the combination of skills
required and thought he might be the man
for the job.
PNG was a life-changing experience.
There he encountered the Order of Friars
Minor Capuchin, which had pastoral
responsibility for the Southern Highlands
of PNG.
Fr Gerard was Director of Music for
the Papal Liturgies when Pope John Paul
II visited Port Moresby in 1984. The New
York Times reported the visit was joyful and
informal, distinguished by colourful native
dress and indigenous musical instruments.
As a lay missionary, he trained singers,
conducted the schola, played the organ and
made musical selections.
PARISH PROFILE
Fr Gerard O’Dempsey OFM Cap is the Parish Priest of Good Shepherd Parish, Plumpton. Photo: Jordan Grantham.
One of his favourite liturgical composers
is Bernadette Farrell, known for Christ,
Be Our Light and Bread of Life. Another
favourite is Owen Alstott, composer of the
popular Heritage Mass setting.
Fr Gerard was ordained in 1995 and served
at Plumpton until 1999, when he became
the first Queensland-born parish priest of
Guardian Angels Wynnum, in Brisbane.
He then went on sabbatical at Weston
University, Boston, and later served in the
North American Novitiate of the Capuchins
as formator and part of the Novitiate
Formation Team.
Fr Gerard says the signs of a true vocation
are being “happy to live the Gospel, in
love with the Church and its mission, and
openness to where the Holy Spirit leads us.”
In 2014, he was elected Vicar Provincial
of the Australian Province of the
Capuchin Friars.
In this role he shares in the administrative
duties for the Capuchin Order in Australia
and substitutes for the Provincial when he
is absent.
To stay grounded, Fr Gerard keeps in
touch with his 10 junior siblings. Several of
them have also lived in South East Asia.
For recreation, he enjoys reading Thomas
Keneally, Robert Overy, Clive Cussler, Agatha
Christie and listening to David Brubeck and
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FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 9

DIOCESAN NEWS
More than 35 pilgrims ranging in age from 17 to 70 participated in the walking of the pilgrimage route. Photography by Perry Mowbray and Briony Mowbray.
Epiphany Pilgrims drawn into a deeper encounter with Christ
By Briony and Jesse Mowbray
FOR SEVEN DAYS last month, a group
of pilgrims journeyed both physically
and spiritually along Blue Mountains
bush tracks, completing more than 110km
of walking and spending time in prayer, adoration
and celebration at every parish in the
Blue Mountains Deanery.
On 2 January, the Blue Mountains Dean,
Rev Michael O’Callaghan, commissioned
and sent forth the Epiphany Pilgrims from
Our Lady of the Way Parish, Emu Plains.
More than 35 pilgrims ranging in age from
17 to 70 participated in the walking of the
pilgrimage route. They were accompanied
along the way by the pilgrimage chaplain,
Rev Piotr Kruk OP, Assistant Priest at St
Joseph’s Parish, Kingswood, and Sr Rosie
‘The pilgrims were
heartfelt in their adoration
of the Lord, which was
both refreshing and
contagious for the
local parishioners.’
Christine Ellis, parishioner.
‘When I registered (for the pilgrimage) I wasn’t
sure whether I’d be able to make it. It’s been one
of the toughest things that I’ve done in a long
time but it was so worth it – not only was I able
to finish, but I was able to deepen my faith and
gain friendships that will last me a lifetime.’
Jacqui Holden, 2017 Epiphany pilgrim.
Drum MGL, Assistant Director of Catholic
Youth Parramatta.
The Feast of the Epiphany, which occurs
on the first Sunday following New Year’s
Day, celebrates the visitation of the Magi
to the child Jesus and the revelation of
God to all humanity.
It is this feast and the journey of the
Magi that are reflected upon throughout
the pilgrimage, which aims to draw
participants into a deeper encounter with
Christ and a more profound experience of
the Christmas season.
A trial walk of the route from Emu Plains
to Bell (referred to as the Way of the Magi)
was undertaken in 2016, but the 2017
pilgrimage was the first official Epiphany
Pilgrimage to take place.
In addition to the walkers, more than
70 people were involved in the
organisation of the journey and many
more joined the group for prayer,
adoration, Mass and fellowship at each of
the Blue Mountains parishes.
In preparing for the pilgrimage, each
participant selected a stone to symbolise
his or her life. In placing their stones
before the Blessed Sacrament each night,
the pilgrims mirrored the offering of the
Magi, recommitting the gift of their own
life to Jesus.
At the pilgrimage end in Bell, the pilgrims
placed their stones for a final time into the
recently commissioned altar at the Chapel
of the Magi as a definitive offering of their
lives to Christ.
The chapel is to be constructed over many
years from the stones carried to the site by
pilgrims and in this way become a physical
symbol of the Church made of living stones
(1 Peter 2:5).
Fr Piotr celebrated the first Mass at
the Chapel of the Magi on the Feast of
the Epiphany to officially conclude the
2017 pilgrimage.
For more information about the Epiphany
Pilgrimage and the Chapel of the Magi, see
www.epiphanypilgrimage.org
The 2018 Epiphany Pilgrimage will take
place from Tuesday 2 January to
Monday 8 January 2018.
‘It was both humbling and inspiring to see God at
work in the lives of the pilgrims and through so many
different aspects of the journey – the walking itself,
the wonder of creation, the fellowship, prayer and, of
course, through Mass, adoration and the sacraments.’
Allan Alaya-ay, one of the pilgrimage coordinators.
You are invited
To meet
Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta
At our 17 th Anniversary Dinner meeting
Hosted by the Catenians
At Lachlans Restaurant
Old Government House, Parramatta Park
• Date: Thursday 23rd March 2017 • Commencing 6.30pm for 7pm
• Cost $50 per person, $65 per couple
Contact: Michael Tan • mghtan@tpg.com.au • 0419 279 743
• For Registrations RSVP by 10th March, 2017
BUS DRIVER
Volunteer
St Hedwig Village is an aged care facility located in Blacktown.
We are seeking a volunteer driver for our regular bus outings usually 2 per month.
The person must have an excellent driving record and hold a current LR (light rigid) or
equivalent licence.
For further information please contact the Manager on
8822 9903 or forward resume to fax 9672 4458 or email
admin@sthedwigvillage.com
“Caring for the Aged is our Commitment”
10 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

DIOCESAN NEWS
St Gabriel’s students make First Holy Communion
By Debra Vermeer
SIX CHILDREN FROM Castle Hill’s St
Gabriel’s School for students with special
needs received First Holy Communion
recently during Sunday Mass at St
Bernadette’s Parish.
The Parish Priest, Monsignor John
Boyle, said it was a special occasion not
only for the students, but for their families
and the parish.
“It’s a great honour and privilege for us to
have pupils from St Gabriel’s receiving their
First Holy Communion in the context of this
Mass at St Bernadette’s,” he said.
“We hope that the children making
their First Holy Communion today will
understand that Jesus loves them and that
their parents will always feel the love of God.”
One of the students, Dominic Harper,
and his siblings Ella-Louise and Joseph,
presented the gifts during the Mass.
At the end of Mass and after receiving
their First Holy Communion, the students
were presented with certificates to mark the
special occasion.
“It must be a very proud day to see your
beautiful children come forward with such
assurance and confidence to receive their
certificates and, of course, to receive Jesus
in Holy Communion,” Mons Boyle said to
the parents.
“And we, as a parish, are very proud to be
a part of this special day too.”
Following Mass, family and friends of the first communicants gathered for a celebration and cutting of the cake.
May Ng receives her certificate from Mons John Boyle with St Gabriel’s Principal, Jon Franzin. Photos: Debra Vermeer.
Following Mass, family and friends of
the first communicants gathered for a
celebration and cutting of the cake.
Also present were the Principal of St
Gabriel’s School, Jon Franzin, Head of School
Dianne Hooke, and Religious Education
Coordinator Melissa Djurichkovic.
Mr Franzin congratulated all involved and
thanked Mons Boyle for his warm welcome
to the children, their families and the St
Gabriel’s school community.
“As a Catholic school, this is what we’re all
about – bringing our community to church,”
he said. “Thank you for being so welcoming
of our children. We’re so lucky to have you.”
The students who received their First
Holy Communion were Keira Madison,
Alexander Dolores, May Ng, Dominic
Harper, Giesuppe Piperata, and Aaron
Calvi. Aaron’s older sister Tayla-
Belle Calvi also made her First Holy
Communion on the day.
St Gabriel’s is a special school catering for
primary aged children with disabilities such
as sensory impairment, intellectual disability
in the mild to moderate range, and autism.
A Catholic school in the Edmund Rice
tradition, St Gabriel’s is administered by the
Christian Brothers through Edmund Rice
Education Australia.
For more information visit
www.stgabriels.nsw.edu.au
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www.catholicoutlook.org
FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 11

Powerful refugee stories at Mamre House ceremony
By Jordan Grantham
– www.faithatwork.org.au
BISHOP VINCENT LONG OFM Conv
visited Mamre House on 7 December
last year for an English Language Program
end-of-year ceremony. The program,
Certificate in Spoken and Written English, is
a certified program of Nepean Community
College and delivered by Mamre House, a
work of CatholicCare Social Services in the
Diocese of Parramatta.
Nepean Community College provides two
teachers who are assisted by seven volunteer
teachers provided by Mamre.
As the women attain the various
competencies, they progress through
Preliminary and Levels 1, 2 and 3.
All the women were presented with
certificate for competencies achieve this
year and about a dozen women moved to
the next level.
The student body is mostly comprised
of refugee women from South Sudan
and Sudan. They shared powerful stories
of hope and survival amid the chaos of
Sudan’s civil war and starting a new life
in Australia.
Sr Janet Woods RSM, the Mamre Refugee
Coordinator, said because of the war, the
majority of the women had never been to
school before coming to Australia.
These families have since flourished, with
many of the women’s children present for
the occasion. Mamre House crèche cares
The student body is mostly comprised of refugee women from Sudan and South Sudan. Photo: Jordan Grantham.
for the children while the mothers have
their English lessons.
The children from the crèche performed
The Little Drummer Boy with great
enthusiasm, which was particularly poignant
at the lines “I am a poor boy too / I have no
gift to bring.”
Bishop Vincent presented certificates to
the children who will be starting school next
year and congratulated all the participants of
the Refugee Program.
“This place has lived up to its name Mamre,
because it is a very biblical place where
Abraham and Sarah found welcome and
hospitality on their journey, their pilgrimage
of faith to the Promise Land,” he said.
“This place is also a place of welcome and
hospitality, provided to pilgrims; we are all
pilgrims in this world.
“I am touched by what is happening here
to our visitors and the women from South
Sudan. Their testimonies are a credit to the
volunteers and staff.”
A small boy presented Bishop Vincent
with a large, hand-drawn Christmas card.
Several of the women in the program spoke
about their experiences, demonstrating
their progress in English.
One of the women said she had not heard
of Australia and found it difficult to believe
that she was leaving Sudan. She pestered her
husband about whether their departure was
really true, to which he replied: “If you don’t
believe it, why don’t we catch the plane and
see where we are going?”
She said she appreciated the assistance
provided by the Australian Government,
Mamre House and the kindness of strangers.
Then Jamila spoke, sharing her admirable
work ethic, which includes rising at 4am to
work as a cleaner, going to English class in
the day and working at night, while raising
five children.
Patrick Sproule is a 20-year-old volunteer
and film student at JMC Academy. “I didn’t
know what I wanted to do in my course.
Teaching was a good idea and this was a
nice way to try teaching,” the Warragamba
parishioner said.
Sr Jo Ann Power DC is another English
teacher. “I am in admiration of their
courage and their humility, coming here to
learn and of the energy they put into their
studies,” she said.
CatholicCare Social Services Executive
members, including Executive Director Joe
Cashman, were present for this important
day in the Mamre House program.
Your donation to this month’s DWF Appeal
will help to support Mamre House.
You can donate using the DWF Appeal envelope or donate online at parracatholic.org/dwf
12 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

– www.faithatwork.org.au
CatholicCare Social Services
Diocese of Parramatta
Bishop Vincent Long OFM has appointed members to CatholicCare Social Services
Council. A list of New Appointments is on P6 of this issue.
CatholicCare provides a diverse range of services to individuals and families in
Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains. Here is a listing of some of their services.
Blacktown Neighbour Aid – Assists elderly people and/
or their carers, who are living within the Blacktown LGA. A
Social Support Worker or trained Volunteer encourage and
support inclusion and social contact with the community as
well as for them to continue living in their own home.
Family Relationship Services – Working together on personal, couple and family
relationships through counselling, educational groups and skill-building workshops.
Keeping Kids in Mind – A supportive one-to-one service for parents experiencing
conflict after separation.
Financial Counselling and Consumer Education – Provides information, options,
support and advocacy to enable people who are experiencing financial distress
to develop skills, knowledge and confidence to take control of their own
financial situation.
Houses to Homes – A service for pregnant girls or parenting young
women, aged 16-25, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness
in the Blacktown/Hills LGA. Houses to Homes provides support and
empowers young mother to break the cycle of homelessness.
Problem Gambling Counselling – Provide support for those affected
by gambling through individual counselling. A Gambling Help Support Group
assist individuals and family members whose lives have been affected by
problem gambling.
Baulkham Hills Family Day Care – Care is available for children aged
between 6 weeks to 12 years in the homes of registered Educators,
who are trained, supported and monitored by a qualified staff in the
Coordination Unit.
Family Support Services – An early intervention service that aims
to empower and strengthen families with children and young people aged 0-17,
experiencing stress and/or relationship difficulties that impact on their ability to
parent effectively. Specialised casework and counselling support are available to
residents of the Blacktown and Penrith LGAs.
Solo Parent Services –Counselling and support for those who have experienced
separation, divorce or are grieving the death of a spouse or a partner, whether or not
they have children.
Project Elizabeth – Provides support for families and individuals who are expecting a
baby, have lost a baby or have a child aged 0-3.
Recover Well Being – offers practical pathways to positive mental well-being,
through a combination of education, social activities and peer-led recovery groups.
Mamre House & Farm – Has a range of programs and services to
benefit refugees, youth and people with disability.
Aboriginal Catholic Service Emerton – (ACS) supports Aboriginal &
Torres Strait Islander people in the Diocese of Parramatta through comprehensive
and culturally appropriate programs designed to help contribute to their social wellbeing
and attainment of self-sufficiency.
All Saints of Africa – A community hub at Blacktown where African communities
come together to be supported in celebrating their culture and settlement issues.
Families are further assisted to develop links with the broader community.
CatholicCare Social Services tel (02) 8822 2222
David Parker is Manager of Community
at the Ephpheta Centre.
Ephpheta Centre transformed David’s life
By Jordan Grantham
THE BEST THING about the Ephpheta
Centre for deaf and hard of hearing
Catholics is that it transforms lives.
“Spiritual warmth and community
connections have made me feel alive,”
David Parker said. David is the Manager of
Community at the Ephpheta Centre and was
born profoundly deaf.
David was received into the Catholic
Church last year.
“My work colleagues and Fr John Hill
from the John Pierce Centre (our sister
organisation in Melbourne) have moved me
spiritually,” he said.
“This was a huge step for me and my family
who supported me in my journey. My new
Catholic faith has helped me define who I
am and bring me closer to God. My spiritual
tank is constantly replenished.”
David has been at the Ephpheta Centre
for eight years and wonders, “Where did
the time go!”
Before Ephpheta, David was a software
engineer for Altium, a software company
listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
“Before I started at Ephpheta, I worked for
15 years for a world-class electronics design
automation company where I was involved
in research and design.”
“I have a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering
from UNSW, so going to work at a Catholic
centre for deaf people was a big career change
for me.”
David has been a member of corporate
committees on inclusion, at Telstra and
Optus, as well as on the board of the Deaf
Society (NSW) and Deaf Australia.
As Manager of Community at the Ephpheta
Centre, David engages the community
through support and pastoral care. “I listen
to their issues and problems,” he said.
“I might be asked to help a community
member who has an issue with their car
insurance bill and an hour later be supporting
a person who has just lost a loved one.”
David praised his colleagues for their
compassion and professional dedication.
“The team at the Ephpheta Centre is very
good at multi-tasking to do whatever needs
to be done to support our community. We
are often called in to assist when a person
has a crisis in their life to offer practical and
spiritual support.”
David leads a team of pastoral workers
(both staff and volunteers) who visit deaf
people in their homes, nursing homes
and hospitals.
There is regular provision of Mass and
sacramental programs, provided by Fr
Michael Lanzon from the Archdiocese
of Sydney and supported by Fr John Paul
Escarlan, Assistant Priest at Richmond
Parish in the Diocese of Parramatta.
Based at Punchbowl, the centre provides
services in the Dioceses of Parramatta and
Broken Bay and the Archdiocese of Sydney.
A range of social groups support the deaf
community and provide social days out,
including a youth group. Ephpheta also
takes deaf Catholics on life-changing social
experiences, such as World Youth Day.
“My trip to Italy and Spain as part of World
Youth Day 2011 was totally amazing, David
said. “I travelled with a group of young deaf
people and three Auslan interpreters. All the
lovely people we met during our travels had
a profound impact on me.
“World Youth Day was an extraordinary
opportunity for us to practice our faith
together and to mix and share experiences
with people (including other deaf youth)
from all over the world.”
Ephpheta is an extraordinary place –
the word “Ephpheta” means to “be open”
and David and the team aim to live this
spirit in their daily work. David sees the
spiritual side of their work as receiving the
word of God and being open in how they
communicate, so that all people receive
the message.
David learned this lesson one day, while
encouraging a group of deaf seniors to
be independent.
“My boss at the time pulled me aside and
explained how gentle care and support goes a
long way, that by being patient and supportive
we can empower and walk beside members of
our community,” David said.
“This is the Ephpheta way, truly in the
spirit of the Gospel message – to walk beside
people in their journey, to encourage and
support and never judge.”
Your donation to this month’s DWF Appeal
will help to support the work of the Ephpheta
Centre. For more information visit:
www.ephpheta.org.au
Donate online at
www.parracatholic.org/dwf
Your donations to this month’s DWF Appeal will help to support the Diocese of Parramatta’s social services
www.catholicoutlook.org
FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 13

CATHOLIC EDUCATION
www.parra.catholic.edu.au @CatholicEdParra CatholicEdParra
Parents are
teachers too!
By Greg Whitby, Executive Director
As parents, we
give our children
many gifts. Some
are treasured,
others are
outgrown. Yet a
great education
is a gift for life,
an opportunity
for whole families
to grow together
in learning.
Every parent knows the transformational
power of quality education and the
positive impact it can make to their
child’s life.
And although it is generally felt that the
responsibility for steering students on
their learning journey rests with teachers,
parents play an equally important role in
the education of their child.
For a long time, the role of parents in
school life was perceived to be restricted
to the tuckshop committee, or fundraising
groups or Saturday morning sausage sizzles
at Bunnings.
These activities are still very important
ways of contributing to the life of the
school, but real parent engagement can be
so much more than this.
Schools should be places of wonder,
challenge and inspiration. They should
foster a spirit of engagement and provide
students with learning opportunities in a
safe, loving and welcoming environment.
Parents can contribute to this journey
of wonder too because the learning
that happens outside of the school
environment is just as important as what
happens inside it.
Parents, you don’t need to be tech gurus
to support your child’s learning. All you
need to know is what interests your child
and go from there. There are thousands
of resources and online tutorials for
almost anything. Set the challenge, offer
guidelines and learn together.
The commitment of Paul and Rita Nakhoul
(see story on Page 15) to their children’s
learning is a fine example of what I’m
talking about.
When parents and families become
engaged in a child’s learning, that’s when
the magic happens, and when hope
becomes reality.
From left: Alessandro Sobral from Parramatta Marist High School – Studies of Religion I, Casey Sieb from St Mark’s Catholic College, Stanhope Gardens – Business Services
Examination, Christine Gutierrez from St John Paul II Catholic College Nirimba Campus, Quakers Hill – Mathematics General 2, Jamie Lipsham from Cerdon College,
Merrylands – Entertainment Industry Examination and Emily Tyrrell from Bede Polding College, South Windsor – English (Advanced).
Our HSC students the best in the state
A record number of HSC students in the
Diocese of Parramatta topped the state in
their respective courses this year.
NSW Education Minister Adrian
Piccoli presented the five students their
First in Course certificates at a special
event celebrating the best and brightest
students in the state.
The students include:
• Emily Tyrrell from Bede Polding
College, South Windsor
– English (Advanced);
• Christine Gutierrez from St John Paul
II Catholic College Nirimba Campus,
Quakers Hill – Mathematics General 2;
• Alessandro Sobral from Parramatta
Marist High, Westmead – Studies of
Religion I;
Year of the Rooster for super star Sean
The Chinese celebrate the Year of the
Rooster in 2017, and so is Patrician
Brothers’ College, Blacktown, rugby
league star Sean O’Sullivan.
• Jamie Lipsham from Cerdon College,
Merrylands – Entertainment Industry
Examination; and
• Casey Sieb from St Mark’s Catholic
College, Stanhope Gardens – Business
Services Examination.
Executive Director Greg Whitby said the
result was the highest number of First in
Course awards achieved in the Diocese
in a single year.
“While only one measure of success, it
was a source of deep pride for me to see
students from Western Sydney Catholic
schools featuring so prominently in
these prestigious awards,” he said.
“I hope that the achievements of these
students inspire others in Western
Sydney schools to dismiss outright the
negative stereotyping and labelling that
The 18-year-old Australian Schoolboys
star finished the HSC last year with flying
colours and also signed a big deal with the
Sydney Roosters.
they are too often forced to endure and
to believe instead that great things are
possible for each of them.
“It was particularly rewarding to see
that the successes were in a range of
academic subjects (Advanced English,
General Mathematics and 1 unit Studies
of Religion) as well as vocational subjects
(Business Services Exam, Entertainment
Industry Exam).
“It is also worth noting that all of the
22 secondary schools are non-selective
with some schools located in less
economically advantaged areas.”
Mr Whitby said while we acknowledge
and celebrate the achievements of
these five students, it is important to
remember that there are other important
measures of success not captured by
HSC scores.
Sean made the principal’s honour roll,
which recognises students who have
achieved academic excellence.
Sean was also named NSW under-18s
player of the season and represented
Australian Schoolboys against England.
He was rewarded with top scores in the
HSC. He received band five results in
each of the subjects he studied.
He said his mother pushed him hard
at his studies and he hopes to attend
university one day.
But first, he will focus on his career as a
halfback for the Sydney Roosters.
@gregwhitby
blog: bluyonder.wordpress.com
Patrician Brothers’ College, Blacktown student Sean O’Sullivan (centre) will be playing for the Roosters this year.
Patrician Brothers’ College principal
Santo Passarello said Sean was a credit to
the school.
14 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

www.parra.catholic.edu.au @CatholicEdParra CatholicEdParra CATHOLIC EDUCATION
Education key for our children’s future
Parents must make an extra effort in
helping their children get ahead at school,
according to Paul and Rita Nakhoul, proud
dad and mum of three students at Holy
Family Primary School, East Granville.
The couple make sure they spend an hour
a day with Gabriel (Year 3), Tiana (Year
1) and Jeremiah (Kindergarten) to lift
their learning.
They focus on reading especially and are
seeing results, with Gabriel scoring high
Paul and Rita Nakhoul with Gabriel (Year 3), Jeremiah (Kindergarten) and Tiana (Year 1).
marks in the recent NAPLAN tests and
with both Tiana and Jeremiah reading at
above average levels.
Like many students from non-Englishspeaking
backgrounds (NESB), Gabriel is
a high performer in the national literacy
and numeracy tests.
While the results of all Australian
students have flatlined in NAPLAN,
children from migrant backgrounds
outperform kids from English-speaking
households in Year 3 reading and across
all grades in maths.
Paul and Rita, who come from a Lebanese
background, said education was a
transforming force, and the school was
lifting the learning for their children.
“We grew up with parents who couldn’t
really help us with our homework and there
was one teacher who taught everything,”
Rita said.
“Today it’s different. There is a lot of support
for my children and their needs and they
are really doing their best and we are really
proud of that.
“We sit down with them after school and
read with them, and follow on from their
day at school.
“This school is amazing. We get so much
help and support, and we feed off that and
try to help them the best as we can.
“A good education helps all our children’s
future. It will put them in a position where
they can find employment, make friends
and do the best they can do.”
Principal Yvette Baird said Holy Family
Primary School was very multicultural with
many NESB families, and their attitudes
towards education varied.
“It is very family dependent and while a
lot of NESB families put a lot of emphasis
on education, not every family does this,”
she said.
“We are a four C school – creativity,
collaboration, communication and critical
thinking – and our main idea for this school
is our oral language interaction.
“The children have an awareness of
explaining to us what they are learning and
ways to make their learning better.”
Gabriel was quick to praise his teachers and
his parents who help him with homework.
“It’s all about the teachers, they help me so
much, and my mum and dad who help me
too,” he said.
The Nakhoul family have a deep connection
with Holy Family Primary with Paul and his
eight siblings having attended in the school
in the mid-1980s.
Today, a new generation of Nakhouls are
making their mark at Holy Family.
Rita said both her and Paul’s parents
suffered a lot when they arrived in Australia
and had to work hard to give their families
a kick start in life. But she said her parents
were unable to offer the educational support
she can give to her children.
“It’s amazing to see how Gabriel’s learning
has improved. He comes home and explains
what he has learnt during the day and
teaches us,” Rita said.
Paul and Rita were especially grateful for the
spiritual nurture their children received at
the school.
“God is number one, and the most
important part of all our lives and we give
thanks to him for all our blessings.”
Sydney science students fire back at their critics – with a rocket
Students from McCarthy Catholic College
are blasting their critics, who say they lag
behind the world in science studies.
An international report said Australian
students studying Science and Maths were
sliding down the international rankings
prompting criticism about teaching
standards and the ability of students in Year
4 and Year 8.
Mr Whitby said the TIMSS (Trends in Maths
and Science Studies) scores were a narrow
assessment of what was happening in
Science and Maths in our schools.
“For our younger students in particular,
science has to relate to the world as they
see it. It has to be practical, interactive and
integrated into other aspects of learning,”
he said.
the relevance of their learning to jobs and
post-school pathways.
The STEM focused P-TECH styled
pilot will test and adapt key elements
of this innovative US approach to
education-industry collaboration
in the Australian context.
However, the Emu Plains-based students in
Sydney’s west have brushed off the criticism
in their own special way – by making and
launching rockets that soar 100m.
As part of a science festival involving
hundreds of students they are launching
rockets and learning about the solar system
in an innovative way.
Catholic Education Diocese Parramatta
Executive Director Greg Whitby said our
science students are not failing.
“We need our students to engage in science
projects that involve problem solving so
they are best prepared for the jobs that
have yet to be created.
“This kind of learning is difficult to measure
through a single assessment instrument.”
McCarthy Catholic College is one of
12 P-TECH schools in Australia that
partners with local business, providing
opportunities for students to engage with
the world of work and better understand
At McCarthy Catholic College, students are learning about the solar system in an innovative way.
www.catholicoutlook.org
FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 15

CATHOLIC EDUCATION
www.parra.catholic.edu.au @CatholicEdParra CatholicEdParra
St Luke’s Catholic College will be a lighthouse for schools across Australia.
St Luke’s Catholic College: school of the future, today
The gates of St Luke’s Catholic College,
Marsden Park, will soon be opened
and set to reinvent the idea of what a
contemporary Australian school can be.
The north-west Sydney school opens this
year and will eventually cater for 2000
students in a holistic preschool to Year 12
education program that will operate from
6am to 6pm.
Catholic Education Diocese Parramatta
Praise for Reading Recovery leadership
Reading Recovery teachers wished
their former team leader Trish Reilly
a momentous farewell at a recent
graduation ceremony, which celebrated
yet another successful year in boosting
literacy levels.
Over the years, Trish has watched the
Reading Recovery program expand rapidly
to transform the lives of more than 700
students, who struggled to read.
“For some of these young people, they are
Executive Director Greg Whitby said
the school model had not changed
significantly in 50 years.
“St Luke’s is making that change right now
and will be a lighthouse for schools across
Australia,” he said.
“The centre of the school will be the
Marketplace where local business people
will come and work with students and
share their business ideas.
the first person in their family to become
literate, and this has a flow-on effect for
the whole family,” she said.
“To make such a difference in someone’s
life is so rewarding, and all our Reading
Recovery teachers experience great joy
when they see their students progress.
“All the hard work and all the time is worth
it when you see the light on the children’s
faces when they read a book and turn to
you and say ‘I did it’.”
“There will also be an innovation hub,
with a focus on teaching 21 st Century
entrepreneurial skills. Students will be
encouraged to discover their true passions
at an early age.
“The school will educate students
today for careers that haven’t been
invented yet.”
Foundation Principal Greg Miller said St
Luke’s extended operating hours, from 6am
to 6pm, will be a huge benefit for working
families with younger children.
“With so many Australian families, both
parents have to work and the 8.30am to
3.30pm model does not serve them best,”
he said.
“Our before-and-after school Activities
Club will provide students with a
learning focus as part of an extended
school day.”
National media attention for our schools
The Australian newspaper visited St Monica’s Primary in North Parramatta in an article
highlighting our positive results in the recent NAPLAN test. Photographer Renee
Nowytarger organises Ryan and Jasmine Chang with daughter Alexis for a picture.
16 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

LIFE, MARRIAGE & FAMILY
Living water: Saving our bodies and
cleansing our souls for new life
By Ben Smith, Director,
Life, Marriage & Family Office
DURING THIS SUMMER, Sydney
recorded some of its hottest nights
on record. Penrith reached 36°C at
midnight on 13 January.
At times like these the power of water
to cool and refresh our bodies becomes
apparent. Whether it’s a trip to Wet’n’Wild,
Bondi Beach or even a few goes on a
backyard Slip’n’Slide, Australians flock
to water to beat the summer heat. The
trees in our gardens struggle with the heat
and a daily watering helps them survive
the summer.
This life-giving power of water is
true of the physical world as well as the
spiritual world. Jesus in his conversation
with the woman at the well offered her
living water. Living water is a theme that
stretches through the Bible from the Book
of Genesis, through the Old Testament
Prophets, the Psalms, the Gospels and in
the Book of Revelation.
It flows from holy places (the Garden
of Eden or the Temple in the New
Jerusalem) and transforms the landscape
that it encounters.
The prophet Ezekiel had a vision in
which he saw living water flowing out of
the Temple:
“This water flows toward the eastern region
and goes down into the Arabah; and when
it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters,
the water will become fresh. Wherever the
river goes, every living creature that swarms
will live, and there will be very many fish,
once these waters reach there. It will become
fresh; and everything will live where the
river goes.” (Ezekiel 47: 8-9)
The spiritual power of living water is
evident in the Sacrament of Baptism.
Baptism regenerates and washes our souls
from the blemish of the disobedience of our
first parents in the Garden of Eden and any
other sins we had previously committed.
Every Lent and Easter season provides the
opportunity to rediscover this regeneration.
Vatican II encouraged the Church to
rediscover the twofold character of the
season of Lent “primarily by recalling or
preparing for baptism and by penance.”
(Sacrosanctum Concilium, 109)
Families are encouraged to practice
penance during Lent, including fasting on
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Project
Compassion money boxes are a good
thing for kids to use to help their minds
to focus on the needy, often in the poorest
countries in the world.
For the second year, the Life, Marriage
& Family Office has developed a Lenten
program for families, which will be
distributed through parishes this month.
To assist families in exploring the
baptismal dimension of Lent, the program
uses the theme of living water. The
program is structured around the Sunday
Scripture readings for the five weeks of
Lent, Palm Sunday and the major days of
Holy Week.
The program provides material for
parents to give them a chance to reflect
on the readings and theme of the week
so they are prepared to lead family and
children’s activities and guide their
children through Lent.
When our children are young, their
curiosity and imagination are at their
peak and they are at a ripe age for faith
development, especially when they are
preparing to receive the sacraments.
During this precious time we can
help our children form a close personal
relationship with Jesus, whose merciful
love will fill their hearts and overflow into
all their relationships.
This Lent will provide you and your family
with the chance to go on a special 40-day
journey with Jesus to experience the hope
of the power of living water that he offers
to all who seek it. The Lenten program will
be available for download on 20 February at
https://parralmf.org.au/lent2017/
As Catholics death is
both a time of hope
and sadness. You will
feel the full range of
emotions; our faith can
be challenged at this
most difficult time.
Come and discover
a Mercy Education
in 2017
Join us on
www.timminsfunerals.com.au
Ph: 9630 9688
Timmins Funerals has helped
families with Celebrations of
Life through the Catholic Liturgy
since 1950. During all that time
our values remain the same, care,
respect and dignity. Still owned
by the Timmins family.
www.facebook.com/timminsfunerals
Sunday
March 12
2017
10am – 2pm
Principal’s Welcome at
10am and 12pm
www.olmc.nsw.edu.au
Expanding beyond what
we know we can be
www.catholicoutlook.org
FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 17

DIOCESAN NEWS
Blacktown enjoying a baby boom
By Jordan Grantham
CHRISTMAS BUNDLES of joy will
determine whether Blacktown
Hospital takes out top place for the
number of births in a NSW maternity ward
in 2016.
For the previous three years, Blacktown
has been the most fertile suburb in NSW,
according to statistics from the NSW
Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
In the Diocese of Parramatta,
Merrylands, Parramatta and Guildford are
also in the top 10.
Registry statistics reveal that biblical
names are popular for boys, including
James, Thomas, Lucas and Isaac. Further
down the top 20 are Jacob, Samuel, Joshua
and Benjamin. Noah has been in the top
5 for boys since 2012. Biblical names for
girls are not as popular, though Grace was
eighth last year.
Diocesan statistics show a total of 3587
baptisms in 2015: 2599 baptisms were for
children under one year of age, 711 for
children one to seven years and 277 for
children over the age of seven. Many of these
children were born in Blacktown Hospital.
Sr Rita Apura CSFN of the Sisters of
the Holy Family of Nazareth is a Catholic
Chaplain at Blacktown and Westmead
Hospital where she cares for new mothers
and their babies.
Sr Rita said families from diverse
ethnicities and cultural backgrounds had
their babies at Blacktown Hospital. “Women
from different denominations and faiths are
having their babies there.”
Patients are mostly of child-bearing age,
15-44 years, and reside predominantly
within the Blacktown LGA, however, there
may be inflows from surrounding LGAs.
Sr Rita’s ministry is in providing comfort
and care to maternity ward patients
through spiritual direction, if needed. “The
sacraments are available for patients if they
require them and appropriate referrals and
requests for a priest if necessary,” she said.
“In my experience of hospital ministry,
attending to patients’ emotional and cultural
needs is also very significant.
“We contribute to the transition of birth,
as we know birth brings joy to families,
the community and parents, but most
especially to women who are expecting
and having a baby.
“Certain births bring pain due to the
circumstances, such as when a baby is dying,
or the mother has experienced abuse.
“As a chaplain, I help mothers find meaning
and purpose in extremely difficult situations,
supporting them in the highs and the lows.”
Birth brings joy to families, the community and parents.
Sr Rita said Blacktown was booming with
many young families moving into the new
housing estates opening up in the area.
“Along with the blessings of this baby
boom comes the heartache of those
pregnancies that have complications
such as: babies with known disabilities,
women who have a pregnancy that
doesn’t ‘blossom’, as we assume a pregnant
woman does.”
Sr Rita said friends and family can help
new families by:
• Providing or cooking a meal,
• Helping with the shopping, with laundry
and cleaning, or
• Watching the baby when mum and dad
have a break or a night out together.
St John XXIII Parish at Glenwood-
Stanhope Gardens is a 15-minute drive from
Blacktown Hospital and is experiencing a
baby boom.
The Sacramental Coordinator, Jill Franco,
said there had been an increase in the number
of families, especially young families, moving
into the parish in areas like The Ponds.
St John XXIII Parish has a maximum of
six baptisms per week and has this number
most of the time.
“I think it’s a constant reminder of how
God’s church continues to stay alive and the
Faith continues, Jill said. “Families are also
reminded that this is a celebration of God’s
hope, love and faith for us all – gifts they are
giving to their babies.”
ALBERT & MEYER
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
Serving the
Parramatta Diocese
since 1967
Australian Family Owned & Operated
301-303 PENNANT HILLS ROAD, THORNLEIGH
9484 3992
ALL SUBURBS 24 HOURS
www.albertmeyer.com.au
Rebecca Pincott Michael Bolton
They smile, they heal, they teach, they
comfort. Around the globe Catholic religious
sisters quietly perform their dedicated and
heroic service without remuneration and
barely even noticed by the wider world. But
in order to assist others, they themselves
also need to be helped, for although they
minister to so many, they themselves still
need their daily bread and a roof over their
heads. Each year the Catholic charity Aid
to the Church in Need (ACN) supports
over 10,000 religious sisters wherever the
Church is poor, persecuted or threatened.
A complimentary Mother Teresa rosary designed by the Vatican rosary makers
will be sent to all those who can assist with a donation of $20.00 or more to
support this cause. Give at www.aidtochurch.org or call 02 9679 1929
Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy
Penrose Park
Monday, 13 February 2017
Fatima Day
Exposition – 10am, Solemn Mass – 11am,
1.30pm – procession and devotions at Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Principal Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Damian Mosakowski, osppe
New Rector of the Shrine and Prior of the Monastery
100 th Anniversary of the Apparitions at Fatima
This is a special year for all the pilgrims who have so faithfully celebrated
Fatima Days in our Shrine over the last 30 years. The Jubilee Year of the
100 th Anniversary of the Apparitions at Fatima is a great opportunity to give
thanks to God for all the graces we have received and an encouragement
to immerse ourselves even more deeply into the Message of Fatima –
penance, prayer and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Pauline Fathers’ Monastery
Address: 120 Hanging Rock Road, Sutton Forest, NSW, 2577 Phone: 02 4878 9192
Email: paulinefathers@yahoo.com.au
Website: www.penrosepark.com.au
18 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

LIFE, MARRIAGE & FAMILY
I’m terminally ill and the debate on euthanasia scares me
By Julie Morgan
THE DOCTORS HAVE told me that I
have a few months to live; the cancer
that began in my breast four years
ago has now spread to my spine, ribs, hips
and, more significantly, to my lungs.
The surgeries, extensive chemotherapy,
and radiation that I went through back
then plus the ongoing hormone therapy
didn’t do the trick. And so now, in my mid-
50s, I’m terminally ill. It often doesn’t seem
real, yet it is. But there’s so much more that
I want to do – I am not ready to go!
My own story of facing an untimely
death has been interwoven with that of
my best friend and housemate who, within
these same four years, was diagnosed and
subsequently died of lung cancer. And no,
she wasn’t a smoker.
As my first illness was coming to an end,
her illness began and so I went from being
the person who was cared for to being the
one who was the primary carer. There was
a week’s difference. So the last four years
have given me a unique window into the
complexity of death and dying, of living and
loving, and of holding on and letting go.
The NSW community is about to debate
physician assisted death or voluntary
euthanasia. No doubt one of the key ideas
will be the notion that we ought to have a
‘free choice’ when it comes to the manner
of our death. This is coupled with the
different understandings that people have
about what it means to die with dignity.
These are vitally important conversations
to have. However, it often feels to me that
the voices who want physician assisted
dying are given extra amplification by
celebrities, and that, because they talk
about dying with dignity, they somehow
must be right.
But the last four years of experience have
confirmed for me everything that my two
ethics degrees have taught me: that human
dignity is so inherent that it is expressed
even in extreme vulnerability and not just
in the good times.
The debate worries and scares me on
several levels. Fortunately, we just don’t go
around killing each other anymore so the
notion that it’s a person’s ‘free choice’ to die
just doesn’t make sense. Recognising the
full scope of human dignity, we stopped
capital punishment a long time ago.
Now bringing in legislation that allows
a group of experts to determine who can
‘legally’ die, seems a retrograde move.
Intellectually, that worries me. And once the
I trust that my family and friends will abide with me. Photo: Creative Commons/Phil Guest.
legislation has been approved, experience
tells us that it is likely to grow exponentially.
I can imagine a time when particularly
frail and vulnerable people will succumb
to the thought that it might be best for
their families and for society in general for
them to let go and die – they will agree to
something because they think they ought to.
That scares me.
I have always been an extremely private
person and so the thought that my
increasingly frail body will need intimate
help does not thrill me. But just as I cared for
and loved my friend in all her messiness and
fragility, I will have to let others care for and
love me in the same way. There is nothing
undignified about that.
So my experience of being a primary carer
tells me that as I’m dying, the presence of
people who have the emotional capacity to
sit with me during long hours, who have the
strength to continually stroke my arm, to
bring me cups of water in the night, to tell
me that they love me and to stay with me
even if it seems that I am no longer present
to them is of beyond measure.
I’m sure that I will know their voices,
and that I will know their touch. So as the
doctors relieve my physical pain, I trust that
my family and friends will abide with me so
that just as I have lived, so will I die, with
integrity and grace.
Julie Morgan is a lecturer in ethical
leadership at Australian Catholic University.
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FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 19

DIOCESAN NEWS
New leadership and new vision for Parramatta Mercies
ON 8 DECEMBER, following elections
at their recent General Chapter,
the leadership of the Congregation
of the Sisters of Mercy Parramatta was
passed to Sr Mary Louise Petro RSM.
Sr Mary Louise is only the 12th sister to
hold the leadership role in Parramatta since
December 1888 when the nine newly arrived
pioneer sisters from Ireland elected Mother
Clare Dunphy as their first leader.
Sr Mary Louise has been deeply
involved in the Mercy mission in the
Diocese of Parramatta for more than 30
years, particularly through the visioning
and founding of Mamre Homestead at
Orchard Hills.
Members of the Congregation Council
elected to support Sr Mary Louise are Sr
Maria Lawton RSM (Congregation Vicar),
Sr Margaret Jones RSM, Sr Patricia Bolster
RSM and Sr Margaret Sheppard RSM.
The contemporary vision and purpose of
the congregation is reflected in the words of
the 2016 Chapter Statement:
‘Mindful that we are called by the world
and the church at this particular time in
history to hear the cry of the earth and the
cry of the poor, we will continue to respond
mercifully to both.’
Further, the sisters declared:
New leader and council (from left): Margaret Jones, Maria Lawton, Mary Louise Petro, Margaret Sheppard, Patricia Bolster.
‘We will open our hearts to the cries of the
poor using our energies, gifts and resources
to address violence and discrimination,
especially for women and children,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Peoples, displaced persons, minority groups,
the homeless, those suffering hardship
because of poverty and those affected by
injustice within the Church.
‘Enriched by the fruits of the Year of
Mercy and the encyclical Laudato Si’ and
informed by the interaction of science,
theology and spirituality, the congregation
members also declare:
‘We wish to live contemplatively, as active
ecclesial women, allowing ourselves to be
drawn deeper into the dynamic Mystery at
the heart of life and matter.
‘We will enjoy and celebrate Earth’s beauty
and bounty and her many species. We will
Mercy-ing App 2017
Although the Year of Mercy
has drawn to a close, a new
Mercy-ing App has been
developed for 2017. The
app has a new series of
monthly themes, which will
reflect on 12 Mercy values
such as hospitality, justice,
compassion and courage.
Free download
@ iTunes & Google Play.
honour our duty to love and care for her and
add to her wellbeing wherever possible.
‘We will live simply, in a way that takes
into account the fragility of Mother Earth,
by using her resources sparingly and, where
possible, living with less.
‘We will protect the rights of the natural
world and make practical efforts to stem the
hurtful effects of climate change, pollution
and the throw away mentality.’
Mass for World Day of the Sick
in acknowledgment of carers and those for whom they care
Including the Sacramental Rite of Anointing
of the Sick and Prayers for Healing
Thursday 9 February 2017 at 10.30am
Principal Celebrant Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv
Bishop of Parramatta
St Patrick’s Church,
51 Allawah Street, Blacktown
Mary, Queen of the Family Parish
&
Please join us for a refreshments at the conclusion of the Mass.
For further information please contact Michelle Davis
T (02) 4734 3150 | E Michelle.Davis@health.nsw.gov.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
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
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
ST PATRICK’S
CATHEDRAL
1 Marist Place, Parramatta
20 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org

PERMANENT DIACONATE
Jerome Emmanuel is supported in his vocation journey by his wife, Freeda, and sons Jonathan and Christen.
Jerome’s joyful journey on path to ordination
By Jordan Grantham
JEROME EMMANUEL was admitted
to Candidacy for Holy Orders at Our
Lady of the Rosary Parish, Kellyville, on
11 December last year. Bishop Vincent Long
OFM Conv celebrated Mass to approve his
upcoming ordination to the Diaconate.
Jerome Emmanuel first thought about a
call to the Permanent Diaconate 13 years
ago, when Fr Emmanuel Gatt OFM Conv
asked him to consider joining the ministry
of acolyte.
This began the process of discernment to
become a deacon.
“It was a heartfelt ‘Yes’ from the bottom
of my heart,” Jerome said. “Until then I was
muted to the voice of the interior, which
gradually became so clear that no words can
adequately describe.”
Pope Paul VI restored the Permanent
Diaconate in the Apostolic Letter Diaconatus
Ordinem after the Second Vatican Council.
The Permanent Diaconate is open to married
and single men.
Deacons are an order of service in the
clergy, focused on serving God in the
Mass and the poor through chaplaincy and
charitable works. Deacons often preach the
Gospel; celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism,
Holy Matrimony and administer Holy
Communion to the ill.
“I fervently look forward to bringing
people to God through preaching and
service,” Jerome said.
Freeda Emmanuel and Jerome have
been married for 33 years and have
been “blessed with two boys and five
godchildren,” they said.
The couple met in Sri Lanka and married
during the time of civil unrest and the
imposition of curfew.
Freeda found the process of accompanying
Jerome has been a new and
beneficial experience.
A married man requires the active
permission of his wife to enter formation
and ordination to the Permanent Diaconate.
Jerome’s family has been essential in his
journey of faith and his admiration for them
is clear.
“The seed of faith was planted firstly by my
parents, and secondly by my aunts Sr Brigitte
and Sr Rose, who in their 80s still serve as
nuns in the Holy Family order, and close
relatives who serve as priests,” Jerome said.
“The formation process simply affirmed
my thoughts on faith and allowed me to
position the sail of my life receptive to the
voice of God, and such faith has taken a
firm hold.”
The formation process has four pillars,
Spiritual, Theological, Ministerial and
Personal, which prepare potential candidates
for the spiritual and practical responsibility
of the sacrament of Holy Orders.
The process for becoming a deacon is an
ongoing conversation with the Diocese.
“Having made enquiries about the
ministry of the Permanent Diaconate, I had
a meeting with Fr Chris de Souza EV in 2009.
He explained to me about the Sacred Office
of Diaconate and the formation process and
suggested that I should discern the vocation
and invited me to see him after a year’s time.”
Enquirers are given time to consider and
reflect on a potential calling to the Diaconate.
Regular prayer and service are key
activities for potential deacons, which also
assist them in the discernment process.
“Theological reflection, and the ongoing
formation journey are constantly at work,
which reminds and propels me to intersect
my desires with God’s desires so as to
become configured to Christ,” Jerome said.
Jerome was accepted into the diaconal
program in 2012 after completing the
Certificate of Pastoral Formation at the
Institute for Mission. Regular meetings with
the Diocese involved both Jerome and Freeda.
Jerome is a Certified Practising Accountant
holding a management position in a chartered
accountancy firm in the Sydney CBD. He has
been able to put his faith into action in the
workplace on numerous occasions.
Jerome lets his faith shine at work as a
Eucharistic Minister at lunchtime Mass
at St Patrick’s Church, The Rocks. “Some
members of the staff attend Mass,” he
said. Faith also informs his approach from
helping staff to the selection of Christmas
themes on greeting cards and when various
opportunities present themselves.
Jerome is looking forward to putting his
skills at the service of the Church and God’s
people as a deacon.
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institutions and agencies within
the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta
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of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). Investments in the Fund are intended to be a means for
investors to support the charitable, religious and educational works of the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta and for whom the consideration of profit are not of
primary relevance in the investment decision. Furthermore, investors should be aware that neither the Fund nor the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for
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www.catholicoutlook.org
FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 21

LIFE, MARRIAGE & FAMILY
Experts warn against following overseas experience with euthanasia
By Debra Vermeer
THE PRAC-
TICE OF euthanasia
and
assisted suicide overseas
has been a disaster,
with so-called
safeguards failing
and doctor-assisted
killing on the
rise, and not just for
the terminally ill,
says world-renowned ethicist Prof Margaret
Somerville.
“It’s a mess, and a growing mess,” she said.
Prof Somerville, who spent 40 years
living and working in Canada, and most
recently held two professorships at McGill
University, in the faculties of Law and
Medicine, has recently returned home
to Australia to take up the position of
Professor of Bioethics in the School of
Medicine at The University of Notre Dame
Australia, Sydney.
Her return coincides with the Victorian
government flagging its intention to
introduce legislation for assisted suicide
later this year and reports that the NSW
Parliament will also debate a euthanasia bill
before year’s end. This follows the narrow
defeat of similar legislation in the South
Australian Parliament last November.
Prof Somerville was a prominent antieuthanasia
voice in the Canadian debate
leading up to the introduction of ‘assisted
dying’ (physician-assisted suicide and
euthanasia) laws there last year, following
a Supreme Court of Canada decision
which found it was unconstitutional not
to allow euthanasia.
She says claims by Australian proeuthanasia
advocates, including media
personality Andrew Denton, that euthanasia
and assisted suicide is working safely
overseas don’t stand up to basic scrutiny.
“Wherever it has been legislated there are
very serious problems,” she said.
In Canada
Prof Margaret
Somerville.
In Quebec, Canada, where doctor assisted
suicide has been legal since December 2015,
a recent report on the first seven months of
the law’s operation found that 262 people
died by ‘Medical Aid in Dying’ – almost
three times the number of deaths previously
predicted by the Province’s Health Minister.
In 21 of those 262 deaths, or 8% of cases,
the doctors had not complied with the
law. Eighteen of the cases did not have the
opinion of a second, independent doctor; in
two cases it was found that the person might
not have been terminally ill; and in one case
it was not clear that the person even had a
serious illness.
“Now when the law is brand new and you
still can’t get doctors to comply with it, what
hope have you got once complacency sets
in?” Prof Somerville says.
“And one of the things that pro-euthanasia
people argue is that euthanasia or assisted
suicide will be rare. Well, 262 cases in just
seven months is not rare.
“Officially, around 4% of all deaths in
Belgium and the Netherlands are euthanasia
or assisted suicide. Now if we translated that
rate to the population of Australia, we’d have
about 6000 deaths by euthanasia or assisted
suicide a year. I don’t call that rare.”
Prof Theo Boer has also expressed
concerns about the explosion in numbers of
people accessing euthanasia in Belgium and
the Netherlands, and the growing variety of
reasons other than terminal illness for which
people are seeking euthanasia.
In The Netherlands
Professor Boer is a
Dutch professor of
ethics, who supported
the legalisation of
doctor-assisted dying,
and was appointed to
one of the five regional
review committees set
up by the Dutch government
as a watchdog
over the euthanasia laws when they
Prof Theo Boer
were enacted in 2002.
He said that from 2005 to 2014 he reviewed
close to 4000 cases of assisted dying on behalf
of the Netherlands Ministries of Health and
Justice and believed it was working well.
“But that conclusion has become harder
and harder for me to support,” he wrote in
the Christian Century journal recently.
“For no apparent reason, beginning in
2007, the numbers of assisted dying cases
started going up by 15% each year. In 2014,
the number of cases stood at 5306 – nearly
three times the 2002 figure.”
Today, one in 25 deaths in the Netherlands
is the consequence of ‘assisted dying’. On top
of those voluntary deaths there are about
300 non-voluntary deaths annually, where
the patient is not judged competent.
“Furthermore, contrary to claims made by
many, the Dutch law did not bring down the
number of suicides; instead suicides went up
by 35% over the past six years,” he wrote.
No requirement for condition to
be terminal
Prof Boer also noted a shift in the type of
patients who were seeking euthanasia. Both
in the Netherlands and Belgium, patients
need only be experiencing unbearable
suffering with no prospect of improvement
to access euthanasia. There is no requirement
that the condition be terminal.
In the first years of the Dutch laws being
enacted, about 95% of patients accessing
euthanasia or assisted suicide were in the
last days or weeks of a terminal illness,
but an increasing number of patients now
seek assisted dying because of dementia,
psychiatric illnesses, and accumulated agerelated
complaints, with terminal cancer
now accounting for fewer than 75% of cases.
“In some reported cases, the suffering
largely consists of being old, lonely or
bereaved,” he said.
22 CatholicOutlook FEBRUARY 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org
Prof Boer believes that raising awareness
about advances in palliative care is
crucial to combatting the drive towards
euthanasia, especially for people who have
been scarred by poor palliative care of
loved ones in the past.
“For a considerable number of Dutch
citizens, euthanasia is fast becoming the
preferred, if not the only acceptable mode
of dying for cancer patients,” he said
via email.
“Although the law treats assisted dying as
an exception, public opinion is beginning to
interpret it as a right, with a corresponding
duty for doctors to become involved in
these deaths.”
If doctors refuse a patient euthanasia
or don’t wish to be involved, there are
now mobile euthanasia units in the
Netherlands who will visit patients in their
homes or nursing homes to administer
the lethal drugs.
In Belgium
The situation in Belgium is similar, where
the figures for 2015, show a 41% increase in
euthanasia/assisted suicide deaths over the
past four years.
In 2014-15, nearly 4000 people underwent
euthanasia in Belgium, of which 124 cases
were justified on the basis of behavioural,
mental or psychological disorders, rather
than a terminal illness. Among the reasons
given for euthanasia is that elderly patients
were ‘tired of life’.
Last year, the first child was euthanised
in Belgium after the law was amended
to allow for this. In the Netherlands,
some babies born with Spina Bifida had
been euthanised.
Safeguards not effective
Leading Australian
anti-euthanasia advocate,
Paul Russell, says
that the soaring numbers
of euthanasia and
assisted suicide cases
in the Netherlands
and Belgium and the
expansion of the type
of patient requesting Paul Russell
euthanasia shows that those societies have
grown used to the laws and no safeguards
will be effective in controlling it.
“What I think this tells us is that the
notion of a ‘slippery slope’ or ‘incremental
extension’ is not just about later amendment
of the original statute; even though that
is also likely and the possibility of that is
inherent in the enabling act. But it is also
about interpretation and the reality that
black-letter law is never going to be able to
keep any legislation so tightly interpreted
as to always reflect the original intentions,”
he said.
In Oregon, US
One of the jurisdictions most often cited
by pro-euthanasia advocates is Oregon in
the US.
Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act (DWDA),
enacted in late 1997, allows terminally
ill adult Oregonians to obtain and use
prescriptions from their physicians for selfadministered,
lethal doses of medications.
The Oregon Public Health Division is
required by the Act to collect information on
compliance and to issue an annual report.
But Prof Aaron Kheriaty, associate
professor of psychiatry and director of
the Medical Ethics Program at UC Irvine
School of Medicine, said there were serious
problems with the laws in Oregon and many
documented cases of abuse.
“I have evaluated and treated thousands
of patients who wanted to end their life,” he
wrote in an opinion piece which appeared in
California’s The Mercury News.
“A request to die is nearly always a cry
for help. Among terminally ill individuals,
it is associated with depression in 59% of
cases. Yet, alarmingly, in Oregon, less than
5% of individuals who have died by assisted
suicide were ever referred for psychiatric
consultation to rule out the most common
causes of suicidal thinking.”
‘Doctor shopping’
Prof Kheriaty also identified the problem
of ‘doctor shopping’, where if patients are
refused access to assisted suicide by their
doctor, they are in some cases directed by
their managed care insurance company
to another doctor who will prescribe the
lethal drug.
“In Oregon, a small number of physicians
write a disproportionately large number of
the prescriptions,” he wrote.
“Despite the inadequate system of
monitoring and reporting in Oregon, the
data we have paints a distressing picture.
After suicide rates had declined in the 1990s,
they rose dramatically in Oregon between
2000 and 2010, in the years following the
legalisation of assisted suicide in 1997.
By 2010, suicide rates were 35% higher in
Oregon than the national average.”
Returning to Canada recently to give
a public address in the wake of the
legalisation of ‘assisted dying’ there, Prof
Somerville warned that a fundamental line
had been crossed.
“The case for euthanasia has been made by
making it seem harmless, that it’s just a very
small step along an end-of-life-care path
we’ve already taken and accept as ethical,”
she said. “The intentional infliction of death
has been trivialised in order to persuade
Canadians to accept euthanasia, and many
of them seem to have sleep-walked into
doing so, that is,without understanding
the full consequences of legalisation, for
instance, the harm to important societal
values and risks to vulnerable people.
“Legalising euthanasia is not just an
approval of another medical intervention,
it’s a radical and seismic shift in
foundational societal values, in particular,
what is required if, as both individuals and
a society, we are to continue to respect
human life.”

DIOCESAN NEWS
FEBRUARY CALENDAR
Parish Secretaries gathered with Bishop Vincent at Mt Schoenstatt for a day of fellowship and reflection. Photo: Jordan Grantham.
Saluting our Parish Secretaries
By Jordan Grantham
THE IMPORTANCE OF
Parish Secretaries in the
mission of the Church was
acknowledged during a celebratory
gathering in December last year.
Parish Secretaries from across
the Diocese gathered to pray,
reflect and connect with each
other on 7 December. Close to
40 people in total attended the
Parish Secretaries Day at Mount
Schoenstatt, Mulgoa.
The importance of Parish
Secretaries in the mission of the
Church was emphasised in their
role of organising and welcoming
the people of God in their
local parishes.
Multiple speakers noted the
figure of St Anna the Prophetess
as an inspirational figure for Parish
Secretaries. St Anna prayed and
fasted in the Temple at Jerusalem,
and prophesied, “spoke of him to all
them that looked for redemption
in Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38)
Sr Mary Louise Walsh ISSM is
the Liturgy Educator in the Office
for Worship and a member of the
Secular Institute of Our Lady of
Schoenstatt. Sr Mary Louise led
the day’s reflection sessions on the
season of Advent.
The day included a tour of the
scenic retreat centre, perched
on a hill at Mulgoa. The main
shrine is a replica of the original
in Schoenstatt, Germany,
containing an image of Our Lady
Thrice Admirable.
Bishop Vincent Long OFM
Conv celebrated Mass and in his
homily, reflected on the lighter
moments in the life of a Parish
Secretary, to the uproarious
delight of all gathered.
“I want to say thank you for your
role in making the Church, the local
community, a positive experience
for others. You are the first port
of call for your parishioners. You
help facilitate the links in your
parish. You are the welcome
interface between the people and
the pastoral team. In your own
way, you are part of the mission
of the Church in supporting,
empowering and caring for one
another and especially those in
need,” Bishop Vincent said.
All Parish Secretaries were
able to catch up over a Christmas
themed luncheon, to conclude the
day in the late afternoon.
To view a gallery of photos go to
https://www.flickr.com/photos/
parracatholic/albums
8 LAUNCH OF ACSJC SOCIAL JUSTICE PAPER
World Day of Prayer, Reflection and Action Against Human Trafficking will be the
diocesan launch of the ACSJC Series Paper 79, Human Trafficking and Slavery – A
response from Australian Catholics. Join Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv and coauthor
Sr Noelene Simmons SM as we launch this very informative publication
and engage in the issues and responses that we can make. From 7.30pm-
9.00pm at the Institute for Mission, 1-5 Marion St, Blacktown. RSVP to Sr Louise
McKeogh FMA at Lmckeogh@parra.cathic.org.au or nswprojects@acrath.org.au
9 MASS FOR WORLD DAY OF THE SICK
This annual Mass is an acknowledgment of carers and those for whom they care.
Includes the Sacramental Rite of Anointing of the Sick and Prayers for Healing.
Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv will be the principal celebrant for Mass at
10.30am in St Patrick’s Church, 51-59 Allawah St, Blacktown. Plenty of parking
– refreshments to follow.
10-12 RETREAT FOR WOMEN: TREASURES IN EARTHEN
VESSELS
Led by Sr M Elizabeth Foley at Mount Schoenstatt, 230 Fairlight Rd, Mulgoa.
Cost: $170 shared room; $180 single room. Includes all meals. Deposit $50.
Saturday only $40 (includes lunch). Bookings essential, (02) 4773 8338,
info@schoenstatt.org.au
16 LITURGICAL MINISTRY COURSES: BOOKINGS CLOSE
THIS MONTH
The Office for Worship is offering Liturgical Ministry Courses which are open
to all parishes and individuals seeking formation and training for serving at
the altar. Held at the Diocesan Assembly Centre in Blacktown on Mondays
and at St Nicholas of Myra Parish in Penrith on Thursdays, the formation
courses are for anyone who is interested in becoming a Minister of the Word,
Holy Communion, Communion to the Sick and Dying, Adult Altar Server or
Acolyte. Enrol by 16 February with the Office for Worship, (02) 8838 3456,
MLWalsh@parra.catholic.org.au
17-19 CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL 50TH
ANNIVERSARY
Join CCR’s Holy Spirit Mission for a weekend of Renewal, Restoration and
Revival. Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv will preside at the opening Mass in St
Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday 17 February at 7.30pm. On Saturday & Sunday, the
program at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Seven Hills, includes children’s ministry,
Reconciliation from 1.00pm-2.00pm, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament,
closing Mass at 4pm on Sunday 19 February. Presenters include: the Archbishop
of Canberra & Goulburn, Most Rev Christopher Prowse, and Fr Ken Barker MGL.
Entry is free. More information at www.ccrparramatta.org
19 CHRISTIAN MEDITATION INTRODUCTION & RENEWAL
Includes: Presentations, Introduction to Christian Meditation, two periods of
meditation, Eucharistic Celebration and information exchange. BYO picnic
lunch – tea & coffee provided. Arrive 10am for 10.30am, concludes about 3pm.
At St Benedict’s Monastery, 121 Arcadia Rd, Arcadia. Inquiries to Ann Bergman
(02) 9498 2625, anniebergman@hotmail.com or Ann Lomas (02) 9456 4775,
atlomas@bigpond.com
24-26 LENTEN RETREAT FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Jesus invites you to journey with him this Lent and allow your heart to be
transformed. Cost: students: $180, employed $210. At Mount Schoenstatt,
230 Fairlight Rd, Mulgoa. Registration essential. Contact Sr M Julie,
juliebrcar@gmail.com
For more events please go to: http://parracatholic.org/events/
Celtic Saints, English Martyrs & Aussie Links
Lindisfarne Priory: Tom Blackwell
• Pilgrimage Information Afternoon • Sunday 12 March at 2.30pm •
Fr Wim Hoekstra EV, Parish Priest of St Michael’s Parish, Baulkham Hills, is accompanying a
pilgrimage to Ireland, Scotland and England, departing 25 September, returning 25 October.
Saints include: John Henry Newman, Patrick, Oliver Plunkett, Catherine McAuley, Columba, Mary
MacKillop, Hilda of Whitby, Venerable Bede and Thomas Becket. English martyrs: Margaret Clitheroe,
Edmund Campion and John Fisher.
Itinerary includes: Birmingham, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford, Glastonbury, Dublin, Knock, Fort William,
Iona, Holy Island (Lindisfarne), Durham, York, Cambridge, Walsingham, London and Canterbury.
Downey Room, St Michael’s Parish Offices, 1-3 Chapel Lane, Baulkham Hills
For a brochure: wimh@parishofbaulkhamhills.org.au
Or write to: PO Box 1501, Baulkham Hills, NSW, 1755
“The most beautiful
and visually
compelling film
I have ever seen. I did
not want it to end.”
Kim, Brisbane.
Filmed and Edited by
Michael Luke Davies
A unique inside portrait of
the world of the Tyburn Nuns.
“This film takes you into
another realm…”
What is life in a cloistered Benedictine
community really like? Let the Tyburn
Nuns take you to their 9 monasteries
around the world. Witness the nuns’ holy
life of prayer and work, centred on the
Eucharist, in this remarkable film.
ORDER ONLINE:
www.tyburnconvent.org.uk
or send cheque/money order for $25
payable to:
Tyburn Priory, 325 Garfield Road East
RIVERSTONE NSW 2765
Name.........................................................
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Address.....................................................
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www.catholicoutlook.org
FEBRUARY 2017 CatholicOutlook 23

You can donate using the DWF Appeal envelope or donate online at parracatholic.org/dwf