Catholic Outlook Magazine Autumn 2021

M A G A Z I N E 

Creating a calm & close family I What’s on for Holy Week I Introducing faith to young children 

LENT AND EASTER I AUTUMN 2021

Acknowledgement of Country 

In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands in 

which our Diocese sits, the land of the Darug and Gundungurra people. 

We would like to pay our respects to the Aboriginal Elders past, present and future for they 

hold the traditions, memories of Mother Earth on which we place our feet upon today. 

Cross by Vicky Clarke at the 2020 Diaconate Formation Weekend. Image: Diocese of Parramatta. 

The offi cial publication of the Diocese of Parramatta 

Imprimatur and Publisher: 

Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv 

Bishop of Parramatta 

(02) 8838 3400 

PO Box 3066, 

North Parramatta, NSW, 1750 

bishop@parracatholic.org 

www.catholicoutlook.org 

Printing: 

IVE Group Australia Pty Ltd, 

Silverwater 

Editor & Vicar for 

Communications: 

Br Mark O’Connor FMS 

(02) 8838 3400 

PO Box 3066, 

North Parramatta, NSW, 1750 

comms@parracatholic.org 

Communications Manager: 

Christina Gretton 

Communications Officer: 

Mary Brazell 

Designer: 

Stephen Poleweski 

Nihil Obstat: 

Fr Wim Hoekstra 

Accounts: 

Alfi e Ramirez 

(02) 8838 3437 

alfi e.ramirez@parracatholic.org 

All material in this publication is copyright and may 

not be reproduced without permission of the 

publisher. 44,750 copies are printed and distributed 

to 47 parishes and more than 80 schools, after 

school care centres and early learning centres in 

Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains. 

Catholic Outlook is a member of the Australasian 

Catholic Press Association. 

© Diocese of Parramatta 2021 

Cover Image: The Aguiliera family - Kirrily (left) and Oscar 

(right) with their children Ben (top left), Tom (top right), 

Zach (bottom left) and Zoe (bottom right). 

Image: Mary Brazell/Diocese of Parramatta. 

The Diocese of Parramatta reaffi rms the wise axiom attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, freedom; in all things, charity.” 

In this spirit, Catholic Outlook publishes a variety of Catholic viewpoints. They are not necessarily the offi cial views of the Diocese of Parramatta.

From Bishop Vincent 

Dear Sisters and Brothers, 

As Catholics, we confess our sinfulness and frailty, at every 

Eucharist. 

Each of us, indeed, needs to turn to the Lord and beg him 

to mercifully heal us. 

We all need to honestly name our own personal and 

community faults and wounds as we journey to the God of 

life, love and wholeness. 

But the Good News is that God gives us the grace to 

transform our lives and our world. Disruption can be a 

catalyst for positive change and brokenness can be a venue 

of new possibility. 

In this perspective, the pandemic that has caused much 

uncertainty, pain and suffering can be an opportunity for 

profound transformation. We are challenged to reshape 

our lives, communities and world in such a way that brings 

greater justice, harmony and sustainability to all. 

It is not only possible; it is the most exciting challenge of 

our times. 

Lent 2021 is a good time to reflect on this challenge. 

I know only too well how I, like so many of us, can find 

it difficult to really stop, be ‘still’ and enter into this inner 

journey of conversion of heart. 

Strangely, something in each of us persists in the continual 

search for a ‘perfect’ friend, partner, church, priest, parish 

or family or maybe even bishop! 

It is so very hard to accept God’s love deep down. For 

the disease of ‘perfectionism’ eats away at us all in our 

excessively individualistic and competitive society. 

vulnerability. It has revealed the fallacy of individualism 

as the organising principle of our Western society. It has 

given the lie to a “myth of self-sufficiency” that sanctions 

rampant inequalities and frays the ties that bind societies 

together. The virus has instead demonstrated our mutual 

dependency, interconnectedness as well as common 

vulnerability. 

Christian discipleship demands that we acknowledge 

our woundedness and the need to unlearn many of our 

habitual tendencies. It is a paradoxical call, at once very 

simple, yet very demanding. Its territory is tolerating 

messiness and imperfection. 

For it involves having learnt the ‘hard’ truth of what my 

fellow Franciscan Richard Rohr OFM often points out about 

the spiritual journey: “You can’t come to God by doing it 

right – you come to God by doing it wrong, otherwise, you 

don’t fall in love with God, you fall in love with yourself.” 

Sooner or later - we must all come to the realisation that 

only God can save us from our sins, our fears and our 

addictions. 

Many of us need to ‘hit a wall’ in order to have a chance of 

‘waking up’ to the reality that we are living insane lives as 

long as we believe that we can ‘control’ things on our own. 

When we ‘wake up’ to the real world, we find God patiently 

waiting for us, ready to help, ready to save us and make us 

whole. 

That is the change of heart Jesus calls us to each Lenten 

season in our lives – too often ‘frozen’ or ‘dead’ to selfhatred 

and sin. 

May this Lent 2021 challenge me and all of us, to ‘fall in 

love’ with our God who loves us just as we are. 

Our culture too often tragically celebrates ‘success’ as if it 

is the ultimate goal of life. 

Pope Francis has offered his critique of our culture 

in his new book Let Us Dream: the Path to a Better 

Future. The COVID crisis, he contends, has exposed our 


Bishop of Parramatta 

3

Advertorial 

ACU welcomes the first students at its new 

campus in the heart of Western Sydney 

ACU Law graduate Michael Benson. 

Image: ACU. 

It is fitting that in the 200th year 

of Catholic education in Australia, 

Australian Catholic University’s 

(ACU’s) new venture, The Saint 

Josephine Bakhita Campus, opens 

this month in Blacktown. 

In bringing a Catholic university home 

to Western Sydney, ACU is looking 

back to the first Catholic school 200 

years ago and looks forward to new 

links with the vast family of nations 

represented in Western Sydney, those 

whose backgrounds are from Catholic, 

other churches, and other faiths. 

ACU’s founding institutions have 

shaped education across generations. 

The new campus stands at the 

cultural and geographical heart 

of the local community and will 

become integral to Blacktown City’s 

transformation agenda by providing 

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travel vast distances to study. Close 

ties with partners in the area mean 

students can learn, seek placements 

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As a law student who crossed Sydney 

to get to classes, Michael Benson 

once would have welcomed the 

chance to study a bit closer to home. 

Not only did Michael manage to juggle 

classes and pro-bono work but he was 

also actively engaged in all aspects of 

university life, from joining clubs and 

societies to becoming the university’s 

Student Senator. During his tenure, 

ACU took the bold decision to open 

the new Blacktown Campus. 

For Michael, it was obvious that ACU 

was a perfect match for Blacktown. 

“It is a university that brings with it 

diversity, inclusivity, innovation and 

awareness for social justice. ACU will 

continue to be my first choice as a 

tertiary education provider,” he said. 

Students can study around 30 

courses in the faculties of Education 

and Arts, Health Sciences, Law 

and Business, and Theology and 

Philosophy for undergraduate, 

postgraduate and pathways. 

ACU is making the transition to 

university easier through a range of 

scholarships based on both merit 

and equity. For those not ready to 

go straight from school to university, 

there is the new Foundations studies 

pathways program. 

Part of our strength has always been 

the deep and close relationships 

we have with the dioceses and 

Archdioceses in which we exist. We 

are part of their community and they 

ours. 

Find out more at acu.edu.au/ 

blacktown or 1300 275 228. 

CRICOS registered provider: 00004G 

4 

Arrive hopeful, 

leave hope-filled. 

ACU celebrates 200 years of 

Catholic education in Australia 

acu.edu.au/mission

Inside 

Diocesan & Parish Life 

3 From Bishop Vincent 

6 Outlook Looks 

10 Short + Sweet 

12 Close and calm in a family 

of six: how it’s done 

16 Seminarians serving up a storm 

18 Family mealtimes count 

20 Easter Traditions 

22 New school completes 

Marsden Park Community 

24 Learning from students 

with disability 

25 The Catholic ‘village’ for 

school children 

26 Starting a child’s faith journey 

Looking Deeper 

32 The ‘Jonah Syndrome’ 

34 A cuppa with the priest: 

Fr Oliver Aro MSP 

36 Parish profile: 

Mary Immaculate Parish, 

Quakers Hill-Schofields 

38 Your plenary responses: 

Who is listening? 

40 A spirituality of parenting 

43 Grace is the presence of 

God in our lives 

44 The hour of the domestic 

church is now 

Agency News 

48 The power of purpose 

50 Like the Good Samaritan, 

CatholicCare chaplains are 

beacons of comfort, love 

and hope 

52 ‘Be more’ through 

Project Compassion 

53 Faith for children in public 

schools during Year of 

the Family 

54 Listen, Watch, Read, Think! 

56 Search for Easter words 

57 Kids’ Corner 

58 Directory of services 

59 Latest Appointments 

28 New Iris app helps women 

assess relationships 

30 New World Youth Day 

date connects to ‘supercharged’ 

youth 

Get instant updates on Catholic Outlook stories and 

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Facebook page facebook.com/parracatholic. 

Subscribe to Catholic Outlook online at catholicoutlook.org to get 

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If you would like to help translate or read articles aloud for those with accessibility issues, 

or to request a Word version of any of these articles for language or Braille translators 

please contact Christina Gretton at the Diocese of Parramatta on comms@parracatholic.org. 

5

Looks 

The Pope’s tips for peaceful families 

The Catholic Church is celebrating the Year of the 

Family from 19 March 2021 through to 26 June 2022. 

In announcing the year, Pope Francis recognised the 

important role of families and offered some suggestions 

for family life. 

“When an argument starts at home, instead of trying to 

win it, let’s try to diffuse it,” he said. He gently reminds us 

of three powerful phrases to use within a family: “Pardon 

me”, “Thank you” and “Sorry”. 

Tip: Never end the day without making peace 

with those you have quarrelled with. 

Our Traditions this season 

This season is our Church’s most holy time 

of year. On page 20 you’ll find an outline 

what happens in the Church during Holy 

Week – Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday - 

which fall from 28 March to 4 April this year. 

Going to Reconciliation before Holy Week 

helps us reflect spiritually on what is in our hearts. You may feel it helps you 

mentally and spiritually cleanse and ‘start anew’ before we celebrate Easter. 

People are praying more 

If you’ve found yourself praying or 

thinking of God more frequently, you’re 

not alone. One in three Aussie workers 

is praying more and having spiritual 

conversations. Researcher Dr Lindsay 

McMillan from Mainstreet Insights also 

found two in five people are thinking 

about God more, and one in four is 

reading the Bible more. “Most workers 

are spending more time thinking 

about purpose and meaning, ‘God 

conversations’ are up, as is prayer,” 

he says. 

Source: © McCrindle Research Pty Ltd. 

Did you know? 

Catholics in Australia should receive Holy Communion at least once a year between 

Ash Wednesday and Trinity Sunday. This year Ash Wednesday fell on 17 February 

and Trinity Sunday falls on 30 May (Ordo 2021). 

Talk grace with your kids 

Grace isn’t just saying a prayer before meals. Of all times 

of year, Easter is an important season to understand what 

‘God’s grace’ actually means. Check out our insights 

on grace on page 43 and compare your understanding 

with your children’s. It’s part of their RE lessons taught at 

school so they might know more than you! 

6

Looks 

Family Easter game 

Easter camping or holidaying is a time 

to see things differently. Here’s a family 

activity that shows your children God can 

be everywhere. 

Find an object in nature and think how 

it represents God. It could be a heartshaped 

leaf representing God’s love; the 

campfire as the flame of the Holy Spirit; or 

water from the ocean as Jesus the Living 

Water. Get as creative as you like and note 

your tally at the end of the holiday. 

St Joseph - a parent keeping the family ticking over 

The Catholic Church celebrates the Year of St Joseph from December 

2020 to December 2021. 

Why? St Joseph was an inspirational father – tender and loving, obedient, 

accepting, creatively courageous and yet a father in the shadow. 

Declaring the special year, Pope Francis points out how the COVID-19 

pandemic has helped us see how important ‘ordinary’ people are. They 

“go unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence” (Patris corde). 

Next time you are wondering about your place in the scheme of things, 

it may be helpful to remember St Joseph and the essential ‘behind the 

scenes’ role he played in ‘keeping things together’ for the Holy Family. 

Be Inspired 

Behind the Irish fun of St Patrick’s Day, the story of St Patrick is worth thinking about. At 

age 16 he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland to work as a slave. He escaped Ireland, but 

had the courage to go back, taking Christianity to the country despite his fears. His story 

teaches us lessons in forgiveness, perseverance, trust, and faith in what God asks us to do. 

The Feast of St Patrick is on 17 March. 

St Bernadette is remembered for her quiet faith and conviction, which eventuated in the 

establishment of the Sanctuary at Lourdes, France, and its reputation for healing the sick. 

She herself died in severe pain, much loved, and accepting her suffering willingly. She is 

the patron saint for illness, the poor and those ridiculed for their piety. 

The Feast of St Bernadette is on 16 April. 

Mum Shirl although not canonised, is sometimes referred to as the ‘Saint of Redfern’. 

A committed Catholic and Wiradjuri woman, she made significant contributions to 

justice and welfare for Aboriginal people. Her story shows how one person can make a 

difference. 

Mum Shirl died on 28 April 1998. National Reconciliation Week begins on 26 May. 

St Madeleine Sophie Barat is recognised for her work establishing schools, especially for poor children. Her attitude of 

kindness, acceptance, and role modelling to children resonate today. “We don’t live with angels; we have to put up with 

human nature and forgive it,” was her wise advice. 

The Feast of St Madeleine Sophie Barat is on 25 May. 

7

Looks 

Nurture your green heart 

You may have heard of Laudato Si’, the letter Pope Francis wrote about the 

need for us to protect our planet and each other. 24 May marks six years 

since its launch. 

Here’s a reflection from the Jesuits to help nurture your ‘green heart’. You’ll 

find it at ecologicalexamen.org. 

Gratitude: I give thanks to God and for being wonderfully made. 

Awareness: I ask for the grace to see creation as God does in all its 

splendour and suffering. 

Understanding: I ask for the grace to see how my life choices impact 

creation and the poor and vulnerable. 

Conversion: I ask for the grace of conversion towards ecological justice 

and reconciliation (I pray for help with amending my ways). 

Plan for National 

Reconciliation Week 

Consider the role you play in 

the Reconciliation journey for all 

Australians. National Reconciliation 

Week starts with National Sorry 

Day on May 26. The National 

Reconciliation website has lots 

of information on how you can 

plan for the day, like hosting a 

screening from the Reconciliation 

Film Club on SBS. Find the links at 

reconciliation.org.au. 

Reconciliation: I ask for the grace to reconcile my relationship with God, 

creation, and humanity, and to stand in solidarity through my actions (I pray 

about actions I can take). 

Use prayer for change 

Each month, Pope Francis asks us to pray together on certain topics. It’s 

one way we can unite and be part of building a more humane and caring 

world. See the Pope’s Prayer intentions at popesprayer.va or watch them on 

thepopevideo.org. 

March: Let us pray that we may experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation 

with renewed depth, to taste the infinite mercy of God. 

April: We pray for those who risk their lives while fighting for fundamental rights 

under dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and even in democracies in crisis. 

May: Let us pray that those in charge of finance will work with governments 

to regulate financial markets and protect citizens from its dangers. 

8

Looks 

What’s on 

in the Diocese 

7 to 13 March 

Catholic Schools Week 

Check with your local Catholic school 

regarding open days. 

Every Saturday at 9.15am 

Join the Zoom discussion on faith 

topics at Saturday Sessions. 

Lenten sharing 

This Lenten season Bishop Vincent asks us to donate 

to the chaplaincy program run by CatholicCare Western 

Sydney and the Blue Mountains. Your gift can help our 

chaplains visit, listen, and connect with those who might 

otherwise feel abandoned in hospitals and prisons. Donate 

at yourcatholicfoundation.org.au/appealcatholiccare. 

Project Compassion takes place each Lent and raises 

funds to support the work of Caritas Australia, the 

international aid and development organisation of the 

Catholic Church in Australia. Donate at lent.caritas.org.au. 

2 April 

Walk the Good Friday Night Walk pilgrimage with young 

people of the Diocese from Blacktown to Parramatta. 

8 April 

35th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Diocese of Parramatta. 

20 April 

Zoom into the online Oceania Webinar Parishes and 

Schools – One Community in Christ. 

Join a free program to deepen your faith by the Institute for 

Mission. Programs start regularly throughout 2021. 

Take a course to become a reader, altar server or take 

communion to the sick. Courses held throughout 2021. 

Find details of above events at parracatholic.org/events. 

9

Short + Sweet 

10 

“Educating people to care begins in 

the family.” 

– Pope Francis during his World Day of Peace 

message on 1 January 2021. 

“I would like to encourage every one 

of you to meet someone new from a 

different background and see what 

doors open to you. You will possibly 

be helping that person to experience 

a new homeland in a new way and to 

feel they belong” 

– 2021 Australian Local Hero of the Year Rosemary 

Kariuku, a multicultural community liaison officer 

for the NSW Police force in Parramatta, 25 January 

2021. 

“When women are able to share 

their gifts, the world finds itself more 

united and more peaceful. Therefore, 

an achievement for women is an 

achievement for all of humanity.” 

– Pope Francis on the Solemnity of Mary on 

1 January 2021. 

“We must not look the other way.” 

– Pope Francis condemning violence against women 

and asking society to protect them in his Prayer 

Intention for February 2021. 

“We chose to turn our tragedy into a 

greater goodness. We chose to carry 

our cross with dignity. We chose 

forgiveness and love over hatred. 

Forgiveness is the greatest gift you 

can give yourself and to others.” 

– Mother Leila Abdallah on 31 January 2021, the 

first anniversary of the deaths of her children 

Antony, Angelina and Sienna and niece Veronique 

Sakr in a car crash in Oatlands. 

Pope Francis Image: Shutterstock. 

Rosemary Kariuku Image: Salty Dingo. 

Leila Abdallah Image: Giovanni Portelli/The Catholic Weekly. 

Bishop Vincent Image: Diocese of Parramatta. 

Kane Image: Diocese of Parramatta. 

“A change in government policy 

towards refugees in this country, and 

towards asylum seekers, will come 

from us and so by building a coalition 

of concerned citizens in showing 

respect, kindness, hospitality, 

solidarity to asylum seekers and 

refugees we will ultimately change 

the attitude of Australians.” 

– Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv in his address 

on the Catholics for Refugees website 

catholicsforrefugees.org.au 

“I believe that as educators, we 

have the opportunity to form a new 

generation that values the common 

good more than individual success. 

We also need an education that 

forms young people into men and 

women of deep empathy, solidarity 

and communion as opposed to 

individualism and self-interest.” 

– Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, Address at the 

Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta System 

Leadership Day, 22 January 2021. 

“Home is not where you were born, 

home is where all your attempts to 

escape cease. When you finally feel 

you don’t need to escape or run 

away.” 

– Kane, refugee featured in the video My Journey: 

Our Journey on The Well. 

“We must be prepared to better 

ourselves in how we live, rather than 

simply wait for better times.” 

– Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv in his homily 

on 6 December 2020.

Not all of us can do 

great things, 

but we can do small things 

with love 

- St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) 

CatholicCare Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains 

remind us of this quote in their Strategic Plan 2020-2023 

11

Close and calm in a family 

of six: how it’s done 

By Christina Gretton 

The Aguiliera family in their home in Parramatta. From left: Tom, Zach, Oscar, Kirrily, Zoe, Ben. 


The Aguiliera family of 

St Patrick’s Cathedral 

parish lent themselves 

to Catholic Outlook for a 

day to discuss how they 

stay a close, calm and 

spiritual family. 

I arrive at the home of Kirrily and 

Oscar Aguiliera on the same day their 

youngest child Zoe starts school. 

I remember being teary at both my 

children’s first days of school, but 

Kirrily and Oscar are smiling and 

welcoming as I step into their light, 

spacious house. There is a sense of 

calm in the room as we delve into 

what makes this family tick. 

Before we met, I didn’t know much 

more besides they have four children 

aged 13 to 5 years old, Kirrily is a 

part-time family educator at a Catholic 

primary school and Oscar works in IT. 

We soon start talking about how 

they develop faith in their family, how 

their children’s schooling fits into this 

picture and how they are involved in 

their parish. 

The school dropoff starts the day. “Be 

good, be God’s, be safe, be saints,” 

Oscar tells the children Ben (aged 13), 

Tom (aged 11), Zach (aged 9) and Zoe 

(aged 5) as they pile out of the car. 

He explains what the saying means. 

“I want them to understand they have 

been created by God for all of eternity 

and each of them has a purpose and 

meaning,” he says. “It’s important 

to know that so they can love and 

appreciate themselves. We also want 

them to see that everyone is your 

brother or sister, and we are all on a 

common path.” 

12

Praying as a family 

As we discuss the time they set aside 

to pray as a family, it’s apparent how 

this brings the family closer. It’s also 

demonstrating to the children they can 

speak up and are valued. 

Each evening, Kirrily and Oscar create 

a quiet space where the whole family 

talks about their day. They then pray 

together. 

Kirrily tells me, “Our nightly prayer is a 

review of our day. It’s important to us.” 

Oscar recalls that this is what he did 

as a child growing up in Mexico, “It 

was almost too successful, we’d talk 

together for hours,” he says smiling. 

They have prayed before meals 

since the children were very young. 

“It reminds us to be grateful for the 

blessings we have received and the 

food we enjoy,” says Kirrily. 

The family adjusts prayers around the 

seasons of the church. “It gives a nice 

rhythm to life,” she says. 

Parish life 

Kirrily became an altar server at 

St Patrick’s Cathedral as soon 

as she could as a child and met 

Oscar through a parish event. They 

continued their parish involvement 

with the whole family. “We’re making 

memories as a family of things like 

participating in the Good Friday Walk, 

helping out with children’s liturgy and 

bringing biscuits to the homeless,” 

she says. The boys are also starting 

training to become altar servers and 

attend the Parish Youth Group - Junior 

Credo - opening them up to a new set 

of friends. 

Choosing Schools 

With the mention of Fr Chris, we turn 

to the topic of schools. Zoe, Zach 

and Tom attend St Patrick’s Primary 

School in Parramatta. Kirrily went to 

school there and found other parents 

she had also gone to school with. 

“At St Patrick’s Primary, there is 

clearly much value placed in being 

Catholic by the other families. The 

way the school operates follows this 

ethos too with a fantastic connection 

to our local parish,” says Kirrily. 

“We are surrounded by other families 

who want the same for their children. 

It really seems that we are partnering 

with the school in raising our children 

in the faith.” 

When her eldest, Ben, went to 

Parramatta Marist last year, they 

immediately saw what a good choice 

they had made. 

“Ben comes home talking about 

the Marist values” says Oscar. “He 

is aiming to become a ‘fine man of 

Marist’.” 

While COVID was at its height, they 

would decide ‘where in the world’ they 

would go to Mass, sometimes watching 

Masses streamed from the US, Ireland 

and Canada. “We also tuned into 

St Patrick’s Cathedral Masses,” the 

couple says. “The kids loved seeing Fr 

Chris del Rosario (assistant priest at St 

Patrick’s Cathedral Parramatta) saying 

the Mass on the screen. It was like he 

was a TV star!” 

The Easter cross the family made in 2020. 

Image: Supplied. 

Because they couldn’t go to Mass 

last Easter, the family put a cross with 

prayers and lights on their front lawn. 

The idea caught on around Parramatta 

and, by the end of Easter, crosses could 

be seen on lawns throughout the parish. 

The Aguiliera children play at their home in Parramatta. 


13

BELONG... 

to one of 80 outstanding Catholic schools across 

Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains. 

BE WELCOMED. BE VALUED. BE CONFIDENT. 

Visit www.parra.catholic.edu.au today to find your local Catholic 

school and join one of our caring, faith-filled communities. 

Growing together in faith and learning

Kirrily and Oscar’s tips for creating 

closeness and simplicity in family life 

Devices 

No devices besides a PC for homework and family-friendly video games like 

Minecraft played on weekends and only once on school nights. 

Phone for high schoolers only with locks on it after 8.30pm. 

Backyard play, games like Mexican Train, Uno and reading fill spare time. 

Chores 

Everyone has an area they need to keep clean. 

Saturday morning everyone pitches in for a big clean up. 

Hobbies 

Choose those that are fun, fit into the family schedule and provide balance to 

their lives by teaching concepts such as perseverance or community service. 

At the Aguiliera’s, it’s currently Scouts, guitar, drama, parish youth group and 

swimming lessons. 

Disagreements 

Put emphasis on finding the truth rather than coming at it “my way or the 

highway”. 

Be open to more research if you can’t agree. 

Lent 

Lent is a good time to set the family a challenge. 

Get everyone’s input but make it realistic. It should be a genuine sacrifice for 

everyone. 

When Lent is over, celebrate what you’ve achieved as a family! 

Taking time out 

With four children and parents who need care, when it comes to time out, 

Oscar and Kirrily make it simple. They happily sit on their back patio with a 

coffee and watch their children play. It’s their ‘downtime’ when they can talk 

to each other. “We look for little pockets of time to take a deep breath and be 

grateful,” says Kirrily. 

“I love how they teach the students to love 

and respect work,” adds Kirrily. “Ben is 

growing a sense of Mission – he’s learning 

the idea of dedicating himself to something 

greater.” 

Oscar is thrilled at the like-minded 

friendship group Ben has made. “His 

friends build each other up. They 

encourage each other to be a better 

person,” he says. 

Kirrily tells me, “When you choose a school 

you choose a community.” They are aware 

of how important this becomes in the teen 

years when the young people your children 

become friends with, have so much 

influence on them. 

After school, we hold a photo shoot. I’m 

watching Zoe in amazement as she keeps 

up with her big brothers playing ball and 

smiling for the camera until she trips up. 

Her exhaustion after her first day of school 

takes over. Time for me to go. 

In the car on the way home, I think about 

the uncertainty of parenting and remember 

what Kirrily told me earlier that day. 

“Whatever stage your child is at, ‘pray, pray, 

pray’ for them. 

“We can do all sorts of things for them, but 

at the end of the day anything can happen. 

“We need to rely on God’s grace and pray. 

“When things get hard, continue to pray.” 

The Aguiliera children in prayer at their home in 

Parramatta. Quiet time for family reflection and 

prayer is an important part of the family routine. 


15

Seminarians serving up a storm 

By Mary Brazell 

Parishioners often cook for their priest, but thanks to a new initiative, our upcoming 

young priests will be able to return the favour. 

Meal prep is an important part of the seminarians’ cooking 

lessons. Image: Diocese of Parramatta. 

The seminarians and Marie Buhagiar (2nd from left) in her 

kitchen where the lessons took place. 

Image: Diocese of Parramatta. 

Seminarians Adam Carlow, Marie, Andrew Rooney and Matt 

Dimian are instructed under the tutelage of ‘master chef’ Marie 

Buhagiar. Image: Diocese of Parramatta. 

Deacon Andrew Rooney carries meals during their ‘final test’, 

preparing a feast for the Buhagiar family and his brother 

seminarians. Image: Diocese of Parramatta. 

Studying in the seminary prepares a young man’s mind and 

spirit for their vocational life, but everyone has to eat. 

As they approach the end of their formal studies, final year 

seminarians at Holy Spirit Seminary in Harris Park also learn 

to plan, shop and cook for themselves. The program is based 

on teaching healthy relationships around food. It’s taught 

in the home of Head of Clergy Health and Wellbeing in the 

Diocese of Parramatta, Mark Buhagiar and his wife Marie. 

“We want seminarians to realise that cooking doesn’t 

have to be difficult, and that it is quick and easy to cook 

a healthy meal amongst all of their parish commitments,” 

says Mark. “It’s important that the young men are taught in 

the home environment, because it gives them an insight as 

to what life is like to those they will minister to.” 

So what did Deacon Andrew Rooney from St John XXIII 

Parish, Glenwood-Stanhope Gardens, Adam Carlow from St 

Paul the Apostle Parish, Winston Hills, and Matthew Dimian 

from Sacred Heart Parish, Luddenham-Warragamba learn 

in the 2020 course? 

Matthew found it is possible to easily make impressive 

meals – and that garlic is an unsung hero. The parish priest 

at his current placement shows his appreciation for parish 

staff and volunteers by hosting them and cooking for them. 

It has shown Matthew the impact a home-cooked meal can 

make. 

Deacon Andrew also sees more than the nutritional element 

of sharing a meal, reporting: “Meals are a central point for 

socialising, deepening bonds and communal activity.” 

The seminarians’ final test before being sent into the 

culinary world was to prepare a four-course meal for their 

brother seminarians and the Buhagiars. 

Deacon Andrew joked, “Everyone left with their stomachs 

intact.” 

But, in all seriousness, he emphasised, the sharing of food 

brought everyone together. 

16

Seminarian Specialty 

Marie’s roasted tomato, pinenut and baby spinach salad 

with optional asparagus, prosciutto and parmesan 

Prep Time 

10 Minutes 

Cook Time 

30 Minutes 

Serving 

1-5 

Ingredients 

Olive oil 

Roma tomatoes (~1.5 per person), 

cut in half lengthways 

Baby spinach (handful or two), 

washed 

Pine nuts 

Salt and pepper, to taste 

Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive 

oil, roughly equal 

Optional 

Asparagus (~2 per person), 

with ends snapped off 

Prosciutto, thinly sliced, to taste 

Parmesan, shaved, to taste 

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC 

2. Place tomatoes on baking paper on a tray, drizzle 

with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to 

taste, then put into oven for approximately 

30 minutes, or until soft and starting to colour 

3. If including prosciutto: put on baking tray in single 

layers and bake for a few minutes until crisp 

4. Meanwhile, lightly toast pine nuts over medium 

heat in a frypan until lightly browned. Don’t leave 

pine nuts to cool in the pan, as they will burn 

5. If including asparagus: Boil the kettle, pour water 

into a saucepan, add a generous pinch of salt and 

bring to a rapid boil. Add asparagus and boil for 

1-2 minutes. Drain and run under cold water (to 

stop cooking process) 

6. Spread baby spinach on base of shallow bowl, 

then nestle roasted tomatoes amongst the baby 

spinach and sprinkle toasted pine nuts over the top 

7. Drizzle with dressing. If included, top with 

asparagus and sprinkle with shaved parmesan 

and shards of prosciutto 

8. Serve immediately 

17

Family mealtimes count 

By Lisa Bright 

As the Holy Spirit seminarians found, cooking and sharing a meal delivers more than physical nourishment. 

The Family Dinner Project is an initiative of Harvard University. Their website, thefamilydinnerproject.org, 

reports: 

“Research has shown what parents have known for a long time: sharing a fun family meal is good for the 

spirit, brain and health of all family members. Recent studies link regular family meals with the kinds of 

behaviours that parents want for their children: higher grade-point averages, resilience, and self-esteem.” 

You might find getting the conversation moving from the day-to-day needs some inspiration. Here’s some 

family dinner conversation starters with a faith-based flavour. 

Cut them out and see how they work for you. 

Lisa Bright is the Project Officer in the Pastoral Planning Office in the Diocese of Parramatta. 

Have you ever been trusted 

with anything special? 

How did you handle that? 

Conversation 

Starter 

Name one of the best books 

you have ever read. Why did 

you enjoy it so much? 

Conversation 

Starter 

“‘The man who can be trusted in little things can be 

trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little 

things will be dishonest in great.’” 

– Luke 16:10 

“There were many other things that Jesus did; if 

all were written down, the world itself, I suppose, 

would not hold all the books that would have to be 

written.” 

– John 21:25 

If you had a free day and 

could spend it doing 

anything you wanted, what 

would your day look like? 

Conversation 

Starter 

“This is the day the Lord has made: let us rejoice 

and be glad in it.” 

– Psalm 118:24 

What is your favourite 

season of the year? What 

do you enjoy about it? 

Conversation 

Starter 

“‘but even then he did not leave you without 

evidence of himself in the good things he does for 

you: he sends you rain from heaven, he makes your 

crops grow when they should, he gives you food 

and makes you happy.’” 

– Acts 14:17 

Share the memories of 

everyone at the table when 

they were aged 8 (or younger) 

Conversation 

Starter 

Describe the most amazing 

party you can imagine! 

Conversation 

Starter 

“For they will scarcely brood over the days of their 

lives, because God keeps them occupied with the 

joy of their hearts.” 

– Ecclesiastes 5:20 

“I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing 

praises to my God all my life long.” 

– Psalm 146:2

Your parish is doing 

amazing things! 

Let’s share your Good News! 

The Diocese of Parramatta is offering communities the chance to share their story 

in a new series from The Well, entitled Being Community. 

It is the opportunity to promote, celebrate and discover the good works and needs 

of many communities and recognise the rich diversity in our Diocese. Communities 

will be supported in creating film content for Being Community which will be 

packaged and placed on The Well with an audience of thousands! 

To find out how to take part, contact Lisa Bright on 

lisa.bright@parracatholic.org or 0448 652 720. 

Don’t forget to check out our extensive collection of 

resources, music reflections and more to use in small 

groups within your communities and for personal 

prayer at The Well at thewell.org.au. 

A resource created by 

thewell.org.au 

Help bring comfort, 

faith and hope to the 

sick and isolated 

Your Faith | Your Foundation 

Meet the 

new College 

Principal 

OLMC OPEN DAY 

Sunday, 7 March 2021 

Year 7, 2023 Enrolment Applications 

open Tuesday 23 March 

www.olmc.nsw.edu.au 

“Your compassionate gifts and prayers will 

help CatholicCare chaplains provide spiritual, 

sacramental and emotional support in the 

footsteps of the Good Samaritan.” 


Please give generously to the 

Bishop’s Good Samaritan Appeal 

yourcatholicfoundation.org.au/appealchaplains 

19

Easter Traditions 

Holy Week – 28 March to 4 April 2021 

By Sr Mary Louise Walsh ISSM 

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week 2021. While you may regularly attend some 

of the liturgies, 2021 could be the year you attend one you haven’t been to before. Here’s a 

list of the liturgical events across the week. Check with your local parish for times and 

any requirements they may have due to their COVID Safety Plans. 

Palm Sunday – 28 March 2021 

On Palm Sunday, palms are blessed and our churches 

are often decorated with palms. This commemorates the 

entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem when palms were laid 

down by the people as He entered the town, before His 

arrest on Holy Thursday. 

Look out for: 

Your parish may 

have a procession 

after the blessing 

of palms. You may 

also be able to take 

home a small palm. 

Tenebrae 

Tenebrae will be 

celebrated at St Patrick’s 

Cathedral on 29 March. 

This is a reflection liturgy 

with scripture, Psalm 

chanting and motets. It 

will also be livestreamed 

from St Patrick’s 

Cathedral this year. 

Look out for: 

During the liturgy, you will notice the 

progressive extinguishing of candles and 

darkening of the Cathedral. For a brief 

time towards the end of the service, we 

remain in darkness, only to be startled by 

a loud noise symbolising the earthquake 

at the death of Jesus. The single candle 

representing Christ is returned into the 

Cathedral and restored to its place. 

Holy Thursday – 1 April 2021 

The three days before Easter are 

known as the Paschal or Easter 

Triduum. 

The Holy Thursday Mass 

which we also refer to as 

Mass of the Lord’s Supper, 

focuses on the institution of 

the Eucharist. 

Look out for: 

Readings and prayers help 

us reflect on the Last Supper. 

Following the homily, the priest 

may wash the feet of twelve 

people to symbolise how Christ 

led through service. Following 

Mass, the Blessed Sacrament 

will usually be taken from the 

tabernacle to another place for 

adoration and then reservation. 

Chrism Mass 

On 31 March 2021, Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, 

Bishop of Parramatta, and the priests of the Diocese 

of Parramatta will gather at St Patrick’s Cathedral, 

Parramatta to celebrate the Chrism Mass, expressing 

the unity of the priests, where they also renew their 

priestly promises. During the Chrism Mass, the oils 

used for sacramental rituals throughout the Diocese 

are blessed and consecrated. 

Look out for: 

You’ll see your parish 

receive their oils which 

are individually presented 

at the end of the Mass to 

parish representatives. 

20

Good Friday – 2 April 2021 

On the morning of Good Friday, we pray the 14 Stations of the 

Cross, spiritually accompanying Jesus on his journey to Golgotha. 

At 3pm on Good Friday, the Celebration of the Passion of Christ 

takes place. 

Good Friday Night Walk: 

You are invited to the Annual 

Good Friday Night Walk, a 

pilgrimage from Blacktown to 

Parramatta with young people of 

the Diocese during the evening. 

You need to register in advance 

at catholicyouthparramatta.org. 

Look out for: 

During the Stations of the Cross 

we typically move from station to 

station highlighting the journey. 

Following the 3pm Liturgy, the 

crosses around the church 

that were covered, are now 

uncovered. 

Holy Saturday – 3 April 2021 

On Holy Saturday we await at the Lord’s tomb in prayer, 

reflecting on his death and awaiting his resurrection. 

Easter Vigil 

The Easter Vigil takes place after sunset on Holy 

Saturday, and usually begins outside the church 

around a small fire. Here the Paschal candle is 

lit and everyone processes following the candle 

into the dark church. Baptismal candles for the 

next 12 months are lit from the flame of the 

Paschal candle. 

Look out for: 

What happens during the lighting of the Paschal candle, 

the darkened church at the beginning of the service and 

any baptisms that may occur. The Paschal candle will 

remain in the Sanctuary until Pentecost. 

Easter Sunday – 4 April 2021 

On Easter Sunday, we celebrate Christ’s resurrection 

from the dead and the new life He gives us. 

The next 50 days through to Pentecost 

Sunday are celebrated in joy as ‘one great 

Sunday’ and are known as Easter Time or 

Easter Tide. 

Sr Mary Louise Walsh ISSM is the 

Liturgy Educator in the Office for 

Worship in the Diocese of Parramatta. 

Images: Diocese of Parramatta. 

Look out for: 

Easter is a time of 

joyous celebration – 

there may be additional 

decorations or flowers 

in the church. 

21

New school completes 

Marsden Park Community 

By Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta 

22

“This completes us,” Principal Greg Miller reflected 

as the community of St Luke’s Catholic College 

celebrated the opening of Arrunga, an on-site high 

support learning setting welcoming students with 

a diagnosis of moderate intellectual disability as a 

primary disability and low adaptive functioning. 

To begin with, Arrunga will serve a small number of 

students from Kindergarten to Year 6. This important 

service will grow over time to meet the needs of 

secondary students also. Founded in 2017, St Luke’s 

Catholic College serves the growing community of 

Marsden Park in Sydney’s thriving North-West growth 

area. 

“It’s really hard to find a school like this, especially 

in this area, or even outside the area,” says Angela 

Vrbesic, mother of Arrunga student Luka. 

For the Vrbesic family, the opportunity for Luka to be 

part of the same learning community as his brother, 

who is already a student at St Luke’s, means a lot. 

“He likes to copy his brother and that’s a big part 

of how he learns so it’s so nice having them here 

together,” Angela said. 

Angela also loves the focus on developing life skills, 

and supporting students to maximise their potential. 

...we’re all different, we’re 

all diverse. Whether it be 

education differences, 

learning differences, cultural 

or language differences, it’s 

up to all of us to learn from 

each other. It’s not always a 

learning experience simply 

for the students at Arrunga, 

it’s the community that is 

learning really good skills: 

to be more accepting, to 

be more patient - it’s a 

changing world we live in. 

- Catherine Goodwill, 

Leading Teacher, 

St Luke’s Arrunga School 

“I know he’s going to be looked after and cared for and 

that he’ll get everything he needs here at Arrunga.” 

Andrew and Christina Cha were so proud to see their 

son Rohan prepare for his first day at Arrunga. 

“The fact that he put on his uniform and got his school 

bag ready this morning was a really big moment for us, 

we can see that he’s ready. It’s such a great start,” they 

said. 

“He was a bit nervous. It was maybe a little bit 

daunting but seeing so many teachers there to 

welcome him just made him feel really good.” 

Leading Teacher Catherine Goodwill was really excited 

to welcome students to Arrunga for the first time. 

“This morning there were a lot of happy faces. It’s 

going to take a little time for the children to get into 

a routine, to meet and get to know new friends,” 

Catherine acknowledged. 

“These are beautiful children and it’s our job to 

make sure they’re looked after, that they’re catered 

for and that they’re learning and provided with a 

good education. Their safety and their happiness 

is paramount. The parents have been absolutely 

amazing.” 

Images: Elisa Pettenon/CEDP. 

23

Arrunga is a Darug word meaning ‘in harmony’. A 

purpose-built learning environment which promotes a 

personalised approach to the needs and adjustments 

required by students, it will be completed later in 2021. 

To begin with, several modular classrooms provide 

outstanding temporary facilities for the first Arrunga 

students. 

Similar Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta 

settings, Wiyanga, located at St Patrick’s Marist 

College, Dundas and Kirinari at Xavier Catholic 

College, Llandilo, enrol students from Years 7 to 12. If 

you would like to learn more about Catholic Education 

Diocese of Parramatta high support learning settings, 

please visit https://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/Our- 

Schools/High-Support-Learning-Centres. 

Image: Elisa Pettenon/CEDP. 

If you or someone you know is interested in 

learning more about enrolment at St Luke’s Arrunga 

School, Kirinari or Wiyanga, please contact Mrs 

Alma George by phone on 0407 233 622 or email 

studentservicesadmin@parra.catholic.edu.au. 

Image: Elisa Pettenon/CEDP. 

Learning from students with disability 

In my early days as a teacher, 

students with a disability were (at 

best) sidelined and at worst, ignored. 

They were hidden from view, and so 

were their needs, especially when it 

came to learning. I’m thankful those 

days are over but Australian families 

are telling us loud and clear that we 

need to do more. 

Schools that meet the needs of 

all students tend to have great 

partnerships with parents. I have 

such respect and admiration for 

the parents and carers of children 

and young people with a disability. 

They’re incredible advocates, not just 

for the needs of their own kids but 

for others too! 

We also need a great team backing 

students at a school level. This 

means classroom teachers are 

supported in their work by other 

staff, often including teacher’s aides, 

school counsellors and relevant allied 

health professionals. Making sure 

that all schools have the resources 

to set up their students for success 

is not negotiable and neither is 

appropriate government funding. 

There’s a lot to learn from listening 

to students, especially those who 

are heard less often, and most when 

what we hear is tough news. If some 

students aren’t supported to join in 

at school, what is that teaching all 

students about community? 

All schools should take pride in 

understanding and accepting the 

needs of every student. This means 

asking schools to think again and 

think more about how we support 

kids with disability in their learning 

and wellbeing. When any student 

misses out, our schools and 

community miss out. 

Gregory B Whitby AM KSG 

Executive Director 

Catholic Education 

Diocese of Parramatta 

24

The Catholic ‘village’ for school children 


What happens when ‘the village’ we need to raise children isn’t there? When 

parents need to work, have other caring commitments or just need a hand with 

childcare, Catholic Out of School Hours Care (COSHC) is there to walk by their side. 

and interact with each other,” she says. 

“We also give them the opportunity 

to ‘give back’ by taking part in 

fundraising initiatives.” 

At The Good Shepherd COSHC there 

is a ‘Gospels values corner’. The 

children write notes about themes 

such as charity, hope and love which 

are placed in pockets in the corner. 

When they need quiet time, they can 

go to the corner, read the notes and 

calm down. Prayers are said in the 

morning and afternoon. 

What about the school holidays? 

“We are very aware that this is the 

time that other children would spend 

doing fun things with their parents,” 

says Rebecca. “We want to make 

sure the children at vacation care 

are having fun, and not feel they are 

missing out. 

Prayer resources are available for children at Catholic Out of School Hours Care. 


Service Coordinator Rebecca Brown 

from the Good Shepherd COSHC 

at Plumpton feels like an extended 

member of some families who use the 

centre before and after school, and 

during the school holidays. 

“We care for some children 11 hours 

a day, five days a week during the 

holidays. During the term some 

children come to us at 7am and are 

collected at 6pm after school,” she 

says. 

“Families really open up to me. I’ve 

been invited to funerals and other 

family events because of the bonds 

we’ve formed. Often there is no 

extended family in Sydney. Families 

have to rely on us instead.” 

At the 32 COSHC centres in the 

Diocese of Parramatta, children are 

not just supervised. The staff at the 

centre continue their faith education in 

a gentle way that is closer to lessons 

taught at home. 

“We’re a classroom for life skills,” says 

Rebecca. “At the end of a long day at 

school, children are tired and need to 

learn to self-regulate their emotions. 

“Our staff are all trained in Catholic 

values and we encourage the children 

to show these values when they play 

“We ask them during the term what 

they’d like to do for vacation care, and 

we plan the program around that. 

“In previous years we’ve done Kung 

fu lessons, pizza making, bikes and 

scooters, African drumming and 

Oztag.” 

Tip: 

When asked how parents can 

encourage their school-age 

children’s faith, Rebecca says 

“Simply talk about it. Talk about 

what ‘Our Father’ means for 

example. Talk about what it’s like 

when someone isn’t being nice and 

how we can forgive that person.” 

For details on COSHC and 

vacation care go to 

parracatholic.org/childcare. 

25

Starting a child’s faith journey 


Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv visits the Catholic Early Learning Centre at Blacktown South. Image: Diocese of Parramatta. 

At five early learning 

centres in our Diocese, 

children aged three to 

five start their learning 

journey in a Catholic 

environment. For many 

children, it is the start of 

their faith journey as well. 

Donna Harding, Director of the 

Catholic Early Learning Centre 

(CELC) at Mary, Queen of the 

Family, Blacktown, saw how her 

preschoolers flourished during the 

restrictions around COVID. “Parents 

couldn’t come in, so the children had 

to come in and unpack their bags 

themselves,” she says. “They loved 

the independence.” 

The CELCs foster this sense of 

independence and exploration. The 

centres prepare the children for the 

Catholic school environment, and the 

early learning educators are working 

with Catholic Education Diocese of 

Parramatta to extend the Religious 

Education Curriculum to the preschool 

level. The preschoolers also 

visit the primary school around special 

events such as Ash Wednesday and 

Harmony Day to join in the activities. 

“This gives continuity to the children’s 

faith and values development,” says 

Donna. It also becomes apparent in 

how kindly and caringly the children 

interact with each other. She gives 

an example of a child who was very 

shy and had some developmental 

challenges. He had been to five 

centres previously, but the other 

children had avoided interacting with 

him. He was upset and lonely and his 

mother was very worried he would 

never find friends. “I didn’t know if 

making friends was even close to 

26

Easter Holiday 

Vacation Care 

Bookings 

Open Now 

Vacation care is available at 15 COSHC centres during the 

Easter school holidays. We run a fun, varied program of 

activities each day. 

Open to all primary-aged school children regardless of 

school or location. 

Our programs qualify for the approved Childcare 

Subsidy Rebate. You may be eligible 

to receive up to 85% rebate. 

Find the closest vacation 

care centre to you at 

parracatholic.org/childcare. 

possible for him,” she told Donna. 

At Mary, Queen of the Family CELC, 

another young boy sat down and 

played ‘beading’ with her son. Being 

accepted like this had a profound 

impact. 

“Who would have known he would 

become the boy that says ‘hello’ and 

‘goodbye’ to every single child, let 

alone having children actually do it 

back!” his mother said gratefully. “I 

just want to acknowledge you have all 

had a part in developing his beautiful 

little soul, always making him feel 

safe and loved, and being one of his 

biggest encouragers, his rock and 

support.” 

Tips: 

Donna gives her tips for teaching young children about faith: 

1. Talk to your children about the Catholic traditions of love, kindness 

to others and sharing. 

2. Young children love learning and singing about what they see in 

nature. Sing songs such as I Wish I Were a Butterfly with your 

children and talk about its meaning with your children. 

3. Scripture stories like Noah’s Ark can be simplified to be age 

appropriate. See what your children’s interests are and find stories 

from the Bible they can relate to. 

4. Encourage children to talk to God, such as saying thank you for 

good things. 

For information on the Catholic Early Learning Centres in the 

Diocese of Parramatta, go to parracatholic.org/childcare. 

27 

thewell.org.au

New Iris app helps women 

assess relationships 

By Tracy McLeod Howe 

Pope Francis has made two things clear about family life – family is the 

foundation for our society and should be promoted and supported. At the 

same time, family life must be safe for everyone. 

A screen shot from the Iris app. 


Two days after Christmas 2020, Pope 

Francis held up the Holy Family as 

the ‘model family’ as a source of 

inspiration for families around the 

world. 

On 1 January this year, he 

emphasised that families need to be 

places of safety, condemning any 

type of violence against women. Then 

in February, through his worldwide 

prayer intention, he asked us not to 

look away from victims of violence 

against women, telling us we cannot 

ignore the cries of women who dare 

speak out. 

In an Australian first, the Diocese 

of Parramatta has launched a new 

app to help Catholic women record 

and journal what is going on in their 

relationships. 

Called ‘Iris’, the app is helpful for 

working out how a relationship is 

progressing and how a woman feels. 

Sometimes simple misunderstandings 

can be identified through tracking 

what’s going on. In these cases, often 

clear communication will help resolve 

the matter. 

Sometimes the issue is more serious 

and falls into the category of abuse 

involving physical or sexual violence, 

emotional or psychological abuse 

or coercive control. Abuse can also 

come in the form of spiritual abuse 

when faith is used to hurt, scare or 

control a woman, including preventing 

her from practising her faith. Pope 

Francis has said violence against 

women cannot be treated as normal, 

and that it is “morally necessary” to 

leave a relationship when a spouse 

and their children are experiencing 

domestic violence. 

Journaling has long been recognised 

as helpful for people with relationship 

difficulties of any type – whether or 

not they involve abuse. 

Rosie Batty, the 2015 Australian 

of the Year and domestic violence 

campaigner, supports the Iris app 

in a video message recorded for its 

launch. 

“Journaling is a useful tool for getting 

the facts about your relationship,” 

says Rosie. 

“Sometimes your partner may not 

be aware of how you are feeling, and 

you need to have a frank discussion. 

Sometimes you need to take your 

journal to a professional to get 

specialist help. 

“Maybe you feel controlled, and 

sometimes you may have been hurt,” 

she continues. “You can record this 

on the Iris app. It stays on your phone 

and no one else can see it.” 

The app contains affirming words from 

the Bible and other resources that 

Catholic women may find helpful. 

Tanya, a parishioner in the Diocese of 

Parramatta, left her relationship after 

many years of physical and emotional 

abuse from her husband. “My 

family were shocked when I left the 

relationship,” says Tanya. “My family’s 

28

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention 

February 2021 

Today, there continue to be women who 

suffer violence. Psychological violence, verbal 

violence, physical violence, sexual violence. 

It’s shocking how many women are beaten, 

insulted, and raped. 

The various forms of ill-treatment that many women suffer are acts 

of cowardice and a degradation of all humanity. Of men and of all 

humanity. 

The testimonies of the victims who dare to break their silence are a 

cry for help that we cannot ignore. 

We must not look the other way. 

Let us pray for women who are victims of violence, that they may 

be protected by society and have their sufferings considered and 

heeded by all. 

Pope Francis Image: Shutterstock. 

culture was that it was not the ‘done 

thing’ to leave your husband.” 

Feeling alone, she sought the help of 

her parish priest. “I had to keep my 

faith strong,” she says. 

After living through such a difficult 

time, Tanya shares her story in the 

hope it will help others. 

“It is important for me to tell my 

story so others can know that no 

one should be hurt, bullied, made to 

feel anxious or ashamed,” she says. 

“I didn’t deserve to be punched, 

pushed, kicked or violently yelled at. 

No one does.” 

The Iris app can be downloaded for 

free on the App Store or Google Play. 

You can read more about it and how 

to seek help at safeguarding.org.au. 

The Diocese of Parramatta also has 

plans to develop a similar app for 

Catholic men in the future. 

Tracy McLeod Howe is the Head 

of Safeguarding in the Office of 

Safeguarding in the Diocese of 

Parramatta. If you have any concerns 

regarding safeguarding in the Diocese 

go to safeguarding.org.au. 

Maybe you feel 

controlled, and 

sometimes you 

may have been 

hurt, you can 

record this on 

the Iris app. 

29

New World Youth Day date 

connects to ‘super-charged’ youth 

By Staff Writer 

After decades of being held on Palm 

Sunday, Pope Francis has moved the 

local celebration of World Youth Day 

to The Solemnity of Christ the King, 

this year held on 21 November 2021. 

Director of Catholic Youth Parramatta, 

James Camden, considers this a great 

move for our local Church. “A move 

away from Palm Sunday gives youth 

ministers and teachers a chance 

to celebrate and highlight young 

people’s contribution to the life of the 

Church without needing to balance 

it precariously alongside our spiritual 

preparation for Holy Week,” he said. 

“This is Pope Francis, reminding the 

Church that young people deserve a 

renewed focus. 

“This new date, later in the year, 

connects with local periods of 

transition for young people, which can 

be remarkably powerful for supercharging 

a positive change in their 

spiritual lives. November is when 

student leaders are typically being 

commissioned, Year 12s are finishing 

exams and youth are preparing for 

Advent, not to mention discerning 

their plans for the following year.” 

Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, 

Bishop of Parramatta, and Catholic 

Youth Parramatta will invite school 

leaders, youth and young adults to a 

special event this World Youth Day, on 

the new date, later this year. 

“We’ll celebrate young people’s 

significant contribution to the life of 

the Church, but also challenge parish 

and school communities to consider 

further ways in which young people 

can take up leadership more broadly,” 

said James. 

For information on the local 

celebration of World Youth Day in 

the Diocese of Parramatta, go to 

catholicyouthparramatta.org. 

The next international World Youth 

Day pilgrimage will be held in Lisbon, 

Portugal, in 2023. 

We’ll celebrate 

young people’s 

significant 

contribution to 

the life of the 

Church. 

Youth from the Diocese of Parramatta at World 

Youth Day 2019 in Panama City, Panama. 


30

The following articles encourage 

deeper reflection, prayer and 

personal learning. 

Looking Deeper____________________________ 

31

The ‘Jonah Syndrome’ 

By Br Mark O’Connor FMS 

Like Jonah, let’s pray to become people of compassion and mercy this Lent. 

Lent is a time for conversion and a 

change of heart. 

Perhaps this Lent, we should follow 

Pope Francis’ often repeated advice 

that we Catholics should rid ourselves 

of all traces of the disease of 

‘fundamentalism’. 

Yes, let’s pray that the Holy Spirit will 

remove from our souls this virus of 

intolerance. 

What havoc and disaster this disease 

of fundamentalism, of all hues, is 

causing! 

The USA is now practically torn 

apart because of intolerance, crank 

paranoid conspiracy theories and 

partisan division. 

And even within our own Church, 

we have far too many otherwise 

good people, who are determined to 

criticise, gossip and think the worst 

of their own Catholic sisters and 

brothers, even their own bishops. 

These ‘culture warriors’ are full of an 

arrogant ‘certainty’ that they alone are 

God’s ‘faithful’. 

Strange as it may first seem to some, 

such ‘certainty’ is a dangerous thing 

in a Catholic who wants to remain a 

follower of Jesus of Nazareth. 

Of course, there is truth: Christians are 

not relativists, but neither are they 

religious dogmatists or bigots who 

constantly denounce or worse, bore 

others with their ‘certainty’ in social 

media rage campaigns. 

Such ‘heresy hunting’ behaviour in 

a Christian is often a sign of deep 

immaturity. Nothing is more off-putting 

to credible Gospel witness than the selfrighteousness 

of those who believe that 

they alone possess the ‘truth’. 

Such people sadly confuse their own 

views with God’s! They may even have 

the ‘right’ words or formulations but 

that means nothing unless they also 

have the ‘music’ of God’s gracious 

spirit. As British-French writer Hilaire 

Belloc famously observed: “The grace 

of God is in courtesy.” 

The ‘music’ of our faith is that it is 

primarily a relationship with a very 

mysterious God, revealed in Jesus, 

the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

Faith, then, is necessarily an 

adventure, a risk and always a ‘livedin-practice’. 

It is a pilgrimage of the 

heart into the depths of the Gracious 

Mystery of our God, who is love. 

To help us avoid the major pitfall 

of religious intolerance in Christian 

life, there is no better guide than the 

poet, priest and spiritual theologian 

Paul Murray OP. 

I especially love his beautiful 

reflection, A Journey with Jonah: The 

Spirituality of Bewilderment. In it, Fr 

Murray focuses on the problem of 

the religious bigot or ‘know-it-all’, 

exemplified in the comic/tragic figure 

of the prophet Jonah. One might 

even call it a study of the ‘Jonah 

syndrome’. 

Fr Murray sees Jonah as a man of 

strong will but narrow intelligence, 

a staunchly ‘religious’ person, who 

simply could not bear that Yahweh 

might want to extend his kindness to 

people who were not members of his 

own religion – especially if they were 

living in great sin, like the people of 

Nineveh. 

God has a big task! He has to 

change the heart of this reluctant 

‘evangeliser’. Trapped in the belly 

of the big fish, surrounded by its 

bones and flesh, enveloped in inky 

blackness, Jonah is forced to come to 

terms with his circumstances, his life, 

and his God. 

Although thankful that he has not 

drowned, his situation is still critical. In 

the darkness of the fish’s belly, Jonah 

is transformed. He can now see God 

at work in his life in new and peculiar 

ways. 

He can give thanks, even in the 

impossible situation in which he finds 

himself. He has come through the 

darkness and is now ready to re-enter 

life. 

With this change in Jonah, another 

change happens. The fish, which had 

been keeping him imprisoned, now 

vomits him up onto dry land. It is a 

new birth for Jonah, as inelegant as 

births are. His life ends when he is 

thrown overboard but, through the 

love and grace of God, he is given 

new life. 

That new life is now one of boundless 

compassion and tender mercy. For 

such compassion and mercy are 

‘infallible’ signs of the fruits of the 

Spirit, which are beautiful to see in 

others and even better to practise. 

Sean Caulfield tells us in his wonderful 

classic The Experience of Praying that 

in Luke’s Gospel (1:78), ‘tender mercy’ 

in Greek is diasplagkhna elous, which 

literally means through the ‘bowels 

of his compassion’; splagkhna are 

intestines and the compassion Jesus 

shows is intestinal; it is felt. 

32

When Jesus revealed the innermost depths of the Father, 

his inner mystery became an intestinal love - a love felt in 

the pit of the stomach, a lump in the throat, tears in his 

eyes and not simply a cool detached act of ‘charity’. 

Jonah, like many ‘religious’ zealots, first resisted such 

divine compassion and tried to replace it with ‘certainty’. 

Jonah was deeply reluctant to believe that God loves 

everyone and has no favourites! 

In this season of Lent, let’s allow Dominican Paul Murray to 

guide us. For when our hearts are moved to compassion, 

we too can experience the same salvation as Jonah – the 

prototype of all reluctant ‘half-converted’ believers who 

need to be set free from their own ‘certainty’! 

Br Mark O’Connor FMS is the Vicar of Communications in 

the Diocese of Parramatta. 

God has a big task! 

He has to change the 

heart of this reluctant 

‘evangeliser’. 

Image: Jonah and the Whale - Painting 

© 2021 John August Swanson |. Eyekons. 


33

A cuppa 

with the priest: 

Fr Oliver Aro MSP 


Quakers Hill-Schofields. 


Fr Oliver Aro MSP, Parish Priest of Mary 

Immaculate Parish, Quakers Hill-Schofields. 


Fr Oliver Aro has had a remarkable 

journey to Mary Immaculate Parish. 

He tells us the highlights of his life in 

ministry across the Pacific. 

Fr Oliver Aro speaks gently during our interview, but once 

he starts talking, you also see a quiet courage and lots of 

life experience. Apart from ministry, he’s been a marine 

engineer, studied psychology and even been a crocodile 

hunter. Over a cup of tea, we discuss his life in parishes 

throughout the Pacific and his arrival in Sydney as Parish 

Priest of Mary Immaculate Parish, Quakers Hill-Schofields, 

in 2019. Fr Oliver believes it was obedience to God through 

the wisdom of the Saviour that led him here. 

The mention of crocodiles reminds him of his favourite 

experience, the first Mass he said as a missionary priest to 

a village in a remote part of Papua New Guinea (PNG). 

It was his favourite Mass, not necessarily because of its 

association with crocodiles, but what it signified. 

“When I went to the remote community for the first time, 

they had heard of missionaries in other places. Some 

worshipped the spirit of trees or storms,” he says. He had 

arrived by a motored canoe, but the petrol tank was stolen 

soon after he landed at the village. “That night, I slept in the 

open canoe amongst the mosquitoes,” he says. “I woke 

up to the villagers catching a crocodile just near me. They 

chopped it up and shared the meat with me.” 

That interaction was the beginning of a relationship which 

led to Fr Oliver saying the first Mass for the community 

six months later. At first, the villagers wanted him to leave, 

with only the children curious to know more about him. He 

returned, gently participating in village life and prayed. 

“As I prayed, the children copied me,” he said. “I explained 

I was praying to God. Their mothers had been watching 

and asked if I could teach them to pray as well.” Over the 

following months he taught the community about God. 

Finally, the villagers were ready to be baptised in Christ 

and attend their first Mass. “It was the most tremendous 

experience for God to use me in this way,” says Fr Oliver. 

After a stint in New Zealand, Fr Oliver served as Superior 

in the Catholic Mission of Tokelau. Unable to speak the 

language at first, he picked it up slowly – enough to 

minister to the people “but that was tough,” he recalls. 

Fr Oliver’s order is the Mission Society of the Philippines 

(MSP). As a missionary, he has ministered in PNG, Tokelau 

and, for several years, in New Zealand. 

Now he is in Quakers Hill, getting to know a new group of 

parishioners. “When I enter a new community, I’m there to 

live the life of Christ, because Christ was there before me,” 

he says. “Any values they see in me are Christ’s values.” 

Fr Oliver continues to connect through the children of the 

parish. He welcomes the many questions they have. He 

answers a lot of questions about what it is like being a 

priest. “Who knows, maybe my words will plant a seed for 

a future priest,” he laughs. 

He was also delighted to be part of the parish when 

it celebrated its centenary last year and tells me how 

he seems to follow the parishes reaching significant 

milestones. 

“When I was in Thames in New Zealand it celebrated 100 

years, the Tokelau Mission celebrated 150 years when I was 

34

Fr Oliver continues to connect through 

the children of the parish. He welcomes 

the many questions they have. 

Superior there, now Mary Immaculate 

has just marked 100 years!” 

Fr Oliver is a renowned gardener. It 

is his way of coping at those times 

when loneliness hits. He is open about 

this, as loneliness is a standard part 

of a missionary priest’s life. In PNG, 

he cared for lots of animals. Now he 

cares for plants. “When I am among 

plants, I don’t feel lonely,” he says. 

“They are living creatures, and when 

I’m with them, I feel I’m in communion 

with God.” 

His parishioners report that he’s 

very interactive and approachable. 

“He’s won over a lot of parishioners 

because of how approachable he is,” 

says Vice-President of the Pastoral 

Council, Beverley Rutledge. 

When asked about the role parents 

can play in bringing faith to their 

children, Fr Oliver is very clear about 

the first thing they should do. 

“When parents want to instill values in 

their own children, they must be fully 

committed to those values, whatever 

they are,” he says. 

“As a priest, I recommend to 

parents they must deepen their own 

understanding of faith, so they don’t 

lose direction. Children will do as their 

parents do; they are their children’s 

first teachers.” 

Fr Oliver exposes the 

Blessed Sacrament during 

Adoration at a Catholic Youth 

Parramatta LIFTED event 

at Mary Immaculate Parish, 

Quakers Hill-Schofields, 

in August 2019. Image: 

Mary Brazell/Diocese of 

Parramatta. 


35

Parish profile: 


Quakers Hill-Schofields 

By Mary Brazell 

The parishioners of Mary 

Immaculate Parish, 

Quakers Hill-Schofields, 

celebrated 100 years in 

2020. Post pandemic, 

they are looking forward 

to rebuilding their parish 

community. 

My vision for the 

parish is that 

parishioners are 

involved in the 

process of decisionmaking, 

and that 

they take ownership 

of the church 

When Mercee Malig migrated to 

Australia in 1988, one of her first 

priorities was to find a Catholic church. 

She was looking for familiar, 

welcoming, warm faces for herself 

and her children. 

She was able to find that amongst 

the community of Mary Immaculate 

Parish, Quakers Hill-Schofields, a 

parish of people from at least 19 

nationalities. She’s now secretary of 

the parish finance committee. 

“Each nationality is welcomed to 

celebrate their national days, like 

the Feast of Our Lady of Lanka in 

February,” Mercee explains. 

Parish secretary Aylyn Yu adds, “The 

people as a community are warm and 

welcoming. You feel it every time you 

walk in to the church, people always 

greet you and ask how you are. 

There’s a strong relationship amongst 

the community.” 

Parish Priest Fr Oliver Aro MSP, who 

arrived in 2019, wants to make sure 

parishioners feel the parish belongs 

to them. 

“My vision for the parish is that 

parishioners are involved in the process 

of decision-making, and that they take 

ownership of the church,” he says. 

“Priests come and go, but the people 

have the experience of belonging to 

parish, and it is them working with 

their priest to prepare for the future. I 

want them to know their opinions will 

be respected and acknowledged.” 

Parish administration assistant 

Marthese Sultana explains, “Fr Oliver 

visits as many people as he possibly 

can, and he is always there for us.” 

More renovations are expected in the 

parish but were put on hold due to 

the pandemic. They will be revisited 

once people are back and more 

fully connected to the parish. At the 

same time, Aylyn sees the level of 

volunteering as heart-warming. 

“You are inspired that some people 

have very little, but give wholly of 

themselves, which inspires you to do 

more as well,” she says. 

Like many parishes, Mary Immaculate 

dealt with the ever-changing 

restrictions surrounding the pandemic, 

with livestreamed Masses and 

outdoor celebrations. With Easter 

approaching, they hope people will 

come back. 

“Easter is a significant moment for 

people to experience the joy of the 

presence of God. There is always 

beauty in the Easter celebration,” Fr 

Oliver says. 

Ryan Hutton, president of the pastoral 

council says, “Coming out of COVID, 

we need to re-engage and reevangelise 

people. We need to reach 

out to those people in the community 

and bring them back. 

“The church shouldn’t just be a place 

of worship; it should be a genuine 

community.” 

36

Members of the Mary Immaculate Parish, Quakers 

Hill-Schofields parish team (L-R) Parish Pastoral 

Council President Ryan Hutton, Sacramental 

Coordinator Sr Valerie Powidzki, Parish Pastoral 

Council Vice President Bronwyn Rutledge, Parish 

Secretary Aylyn Yu, Parish Priest Fr Oliver Aro MSP, 

Parish Finance Committee Secretary Maree Malig 

and Parish Secretary/Bookkeeper Anthony Saliba. 

Missing is Parish Administration Assistant Marthese 

Sultana. Image: Mary Brazell/Diocese of Parramatta. 

100 Years of Parish Life 

An external view of the church at Mary Immaculate 

Parish, Quakers Hill-Schofields. 


In 2020, Mary Immaculate Parish celebrated 100 years since the area’s first Mass in 1920. 

In those days, a group of Catholic families gathered for “the meeting on the log”, on a block of land 

they went on to purchase to build a hall that could be used as a church. 

The building stood as the parish centre for Quakers Hill for decades. In 1973, Schofields separated 

from Riverstone and combined with Quakers Hill. 

The current “church on the hill,” described as a “castle” by the young primary school students, was 

built alongside the primary school and was blessed in December 1993. The only problem was it had 

no pews. Recently, the request went out and 90 families applied to donate a pew. 

The new pews and the overflow rooms were filled (within COVID-Safe guidelines) as Bishop Vincent 

Long OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta, celebrated the Centenary Mass in December 2020. 

“This church is built on a hill and is an oasis of hope and solidarity,” he reflected. 


37

Your plenary responses: 

Who is listening? 


(L-R) Leonard Blahut and Carol Teodori-Blahut and Wendy and Anthony Goonan. 


As we go to print, the 

working document of 

the Plenary Council is 

due to be released. 

In the meantime, our 

delegates have been 

preparing for the event 

– including reading your 

submissions. 

Who IS listening to the voices of our 

parishioners? Wendy Goonan and 

Carol Teodori-Blahut are for a start. 

Wendy and Carol are the two lay 

delegates from the Diocese of 

Parramatta, representing all Catholics 

at the Plenary Council meetings. They 

are part of a delegation of nine, with 

the other members being clergy from 

the Diocese. 

“We’ve committed to do our best 

to communicate the thoughts and 

feelings of the people of the Diocese 

to the Plenary Council,” says Wendy. 

“Our Church and faith mean different 

things to different people, so this isn’t 

as easy as it looks. However, I have 

noticed some trends.” 

Wendy and Carol have read the 

responses that the parishioners of our 

Diocese submitted in 2018 and 2019 

when they were asked by the Plenary 

Council facilitation team what they 

thought God was asking of us at this 

time. 

“It is clear there is a desire to reduce 

the number of people leaving the 

Church, especially young people,” 

says Wendy. “Across the Diocese, 

people asked how we can reach out 

to those not in the pews, both in 

evangelisation and in simple charity 

and welcome. People want to see 

lay people, especially women, play 

a bigger role in management and 

decision-making. Including different 

cultures in parish activities, and 

38

healing for victims of clergy abuse are important, 

as is a more compassionate approach to people 

who are divorced and remarried. 

“People are very interested in parish and school 

relationships and how we teach faith to children. 

There is also a clear desire for adult faith 

formation,” she concludes. 

These issues appear to be common across 

other Dioceses, observes Wendy. In the Diocese 

of Parramatta, the feedback informed the 

Diocesan Forum in 2019. Wendy has also heard 

some of our parishes are already putting their 

parishioners’ submission ideas into practice. 

Both Wendy and Carol are looking forward to 

meeting and collaborating with other delegates, 

including the clergy delegates from the Diocese. 

After all, the Plenary is about the people of our 

Church. 

Carol tells us, “My hope for the Plenary is that 

whenever or however we meet, we make real 

human contact; that we see each other as 

brothers and sisters on a pilgrimage.” She sees 

the Australian Church is learning more about 

discernment (reflecting and listening to the Holy 

Spirit) through this process. “I hope we grow 

more and more into a discerning community,” 

she says. 

“That is my biggest hope.” 

Wendy feels the process of looking at other 

people’s views has helped her reflect more on her 

own faith. She asks for the rest of us to support 

the delegates through prayer “for all delegates 

and the success of the Plenary Council, so we 

become the Church that Christ calls us to be.” 

Wendy Goonan is from the Parish of Baulkham 

Hills and Carol Teodori-Blahut belongs to 

Our Lady of the Nativity Parish, Lawson. The 

Instrumentum Laboris, the Council’s Working 

Document, had not been released at the time 

of going to press, but was expected to be 

released in February 2021. The First Assembly 

of the Plenary Council is scheduled to meet in 

October 2021. 

My hope for the Plenary 

is that whenever or 

however we meet, 

we make real human 

contact; that we see 

each other as brothers 

and sisters on a 

pilgrimage. 


39

A spirituality of parenting 

By Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI 

Fr Ron suggests that to be a parent is like going to the ‘school of love’. There’s 

nothing like being a parent to stretch your heart and find yourself in a ‘monastery’ 

learning some of the qualities of God - whether you like it or not! 

Christian theology has generally 

been weak in its treatise on marriage. 

Somehow the earthiness of the 

incarnation, so evident elsewhere, has 

been slow to spill over into our thinking 

about marriage, sex, and family. 

There are reasons for this of course, 

among them the fact that often those 

writing the books on marriage are 

themselves not married, but celibate 

monks and nuns. There are other 

issues as well. In the early Church, 

the influence of manichaeism made 

the Church somewhat reticent to 

genuinely celebrate the goodness 

of sex and marriage and, later on, 

the monastic ideal (of celibate life 

outside of marriage) came to be so 

identified with holiness that marriage, 

sex, and parenting were not seen as 

having within them the same inherent, 

privileged path to sanctity as celibacy 

and the monastic life. Monastic life 

was seen as a “higher state,” an 

elite path to holiness not available to 

anyone married. Granted, there was 

always a theology that taught that 

one’s duties of state, such as the 

demands inherent in parenting, were a 

certain conscriptive path to holiness, 

but, in the end, this didn’t add up to a 

full, wholesome theology of marriage, 

sex, and parenting. 

Recently at a conference in 

Collegeville, I heard a talk given 

by Dr Wendy Wright, a mother and 

theologian. She spoke wonderfully of 

a spirituality of parenting. In essence, 

she suggested that raising children, 

being a mum or a dad, is a privileged 

means to holiness and [my addition] 

a more natural path to maturity than 

is monasticism. Simply put, very few 

other experiences, perhaps none, 

are as naturally geared to break the 

casings of our inherent selfishness 

as is the experience of child-raising. 

To see your own child is to feel what 

God must feel when God looks at 

us. Parenting, in the end, is the most 

natural path to holiness and maturity, 

the conscriptive martyr’s belt around 

us that takes us where we would 

rather not go. Becoming a parent, 

submits Dr Wright, reshapes the heart 

in a unique way, moulding it more and 

more to be compassionate as God is 

compassionate. 

Here are some of her thoughts: Being 

a mother or a father stretches the 

heart, just as the womb is stretched 

in pregnancy. This is because, among 

all loves, parental love is perhaps the 

one that most pulls your heart out of 

its self-love. Parenting reshapes the 

core of your being to help you to love 

more like God loves. Seeing your own 

child’s fragility and morality, works to 

create in you feelings of inexpressible 

tenderness that help you feel what 

God must feel when God looks at us. 

To be a parent is to be formed in a 

school of love. 

Very few other 

experiences, perhaps 

none, are as naturally 

geared to break 

the casings of our 

inherent selfishness 

as is the experience 

of child-raising. 

One of the first lessons this school 

teaches you is welcome: To be a 

parent is to have to permanently 

open your heart, life, and plans so 

as to create a unique space in them 

for someone else, your child. To be a 

mother or a father is to let your dreams 

and agenda be forever altered. 

The next lesson this school of love 

teaches is flexibility: To be a parent is 

to nurture a child as he or she passes 

through very different stages of 

growth (infancy, toddler, kindergarten, 

elementary school, a teen with raging 

hormones and a raging attitude, 

a young adult, an adult with his or 

her own responsibilities and unique 

sorrows). Moreover, if you have more 

than one child, each has a very unique 

personality that you must adapt your 

40



41

RE ED 

love towards. All of this demands that 

you constantly grow, re-adjust, adapt, 

let go, learn to love in a new way. 

A flexible heart is a discerning heart, it 

picks up each moment and discerns 

the true and the false voices within it. 

It asks, in each moment, “Where does 

love lie for my child in all this?” This 

is a demanding task for a parent, one 

within which (as Wright so well puts it) 

“looking good is not the point!” 

Finally, being a parent should 

naturally lead you to shape your 

heart for reconciliation. Love is all 

about forgiving, again and again and 

again. Families survive only if this is 

happening. A parent is meant to be 

the compassion of God, the father 

and mother of the prodigal son and 

bitter brother who embraces the child 

not because the child is worthy, but in 

spite of all unworthiness. A parent 

must ever say in word and attitude: 

“Return as far as you can, and I will 

come the rest of the way.” 

All of these things can, of course, be 

done by anyone, not just biological 

parents. However, for a mum or a dad, 

there is a certain naturalness in it, a 

conscriptive rhythm written by nature 

itself. To be a parent is to find oneself 

enrolled in an elite school of love, a 

true monastery that is every bit as 

ascetical and grace-producing as any 

monastery ever praised by the great 

spiritual writers. 

Used with permission of the author, 

Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser. 

Currently, Father Rolheiser is serving 

as President of the Oblate School 

of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. 

He can be contacted through his 

website, www.ronrolheiser.com. Now 

on Facebook www.facebook.com/ 

ronrolheiser. 

To be a parent is 

to be formed in a 

school of love. 

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42 

your faith understanding? 

Wondering where to go next in your pastoral 

activities? What paths study may lead to?

Grace is the 

presence of 

God in our lives 

By Anthony Maher 

The curriculum we use to 

educate our children about their 

faith in our schools is built around 

‘pillars’ of our Catholic Tradition. 

Grace is one such pillar which is 

particularly apparent during Lent 

and Easter. Here’s how we can 

think about grace at this time. 

Kirrily Aguiliera embraces her daughter Zoe. 


During Lent and Easter as Christians we are 

particularly mindful of the liberation granted to us 

by Christ’s death and resurrection. We can also 

call this liberation by another name – grace. 

Easter is the ‘moment’ of grace in the life of the 

Church. As we read in the Bible, “This is the day 

that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad” 

(Psalm 118:24). 

It is not easy to understand grace, perhaps we 

don’t even try. Most people might consider grace 

to be a short prayer said before meals, but there is 

more to grace than meets the eye. Indeed, grace 

is most usually described as a mystery. 

In the New Testament, grace is understood as the 

goodwill of God, a beatitude or blessedness that 

produces the virtues of faith, hope and love. St 

Paul taught that grace is “God’s love poured into 

our hearts” (Romans 5:5). 

The great prayer of the Church, the Magnificat, tells 

of God’s love for all of his people. And the ancient 

song in Luke (1:46-55), tells of the greeting of Mary 

by the Angel Gabriel. “Hail (Mary) full of Grace! The 

Lord is with thee and blessed art thou amongst 

women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” 

“Hail” literally means, “rejoice” or be “glad,” for 

you are blessed with God’s grace. 

Perhaps the most important thing to understand 

about grace is that it doesn’t have to be earned. 

Grace is a free gift from God to all of humanity – 

because we are all loved by God. Pope Francis 

teaches: “We need to acknowledge jubilantly that 

our life is essentially a gift, and recognise that our 

freedom is a grace. This is not easy today, in a 

world that thinks it can keep everything for itself” 

(Gaudete et Exsultate, 5). 

Grace bestows the light of God onto a given 

person or situation; one can speak of being 

moved by God’s grace. Perhaps the opposite of 

grace might be understood as dis-grace? 

Grace is discovered in ordinary life, in prayer, 

especially when we discern the voice of 

God. Grace is uncovered in the gentleness of 

accepting God’s will. 

This Easter time, as a community of faith, we draw 

deeply upon God’s grace – the grace that is Easter. 

God’s gift of grace can be found in ordinary life – 

like a crowded kitchen table at Easter with family 

and friends. 

May you all have a holy, happy and blessed Easter. 

Professor Anthony Maher is Consultant 

Theologian to Catholic Education Diocese of 

Parramatta. 


43

The hour of the 

domestic Church 

IS NOW 

By Teresa Pirola 

With the coronavirus shutdown of public Masses and church 

gatherings, a deeper appreciation of the domestic church 

is emerging. Teresa Pirola wrote about this at the height 

of the pandemic in 2020. Her reflections have continuing 

implications for the local church in 2021. 

Image: Unsplash. 

44

In response to 

the alienating 

effects of ‘social 

distancing’, 

more than ever 

we need to find 

appropriate ways 

to embrace the 

Gospel. 

Image: Shutterstock.com. 

Like family Zoom gatherings, there is something 

to be said for parishioners coming together online 

as Mass is celebrated. Many attest to finding 

solace and meaning in ‘virtual’ Mass attendance. 

There have also been thoughtful reflections on 

the meaning of ‘presence’, and technology’s 

capacity to aid Eucharistic communion in a time of 

‘absence’. 

These perspectives have something important to 

say and deserve serious consideration, in view of 

the Eucharist as “the source and summit of the 

Christian life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 

1324). 

That said, my own Eucharistic instincts seek a 

different ecclesial response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

Whatever the merits of live-streaming Mass as a 

means of spiritual support, one would hope that it 

does not become the dominant pastoral response 

to this crisis. A congregation-less Mass viewed 

remotely by a lay ‘audience’ seems contrary to the 

very participatory nature of the liturgy with its deep 

incarnational instincts. 

Rather, in response to the alienating effects of 

‘social distancing’, more than ever we need to 

find appropriate ways to embrace the Gospel as 

intimate, ‘enfleshed’ presence, proclaiming “what 

we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, 

what we have looked at and touched with our 

hands, concerning the word of life” (1 Jn 1:1). 

And where better to concentrate this focus than on 

the sacramental life of the domestic Church and its 

home-based spirituality? 

A summons to the communion of ‘breaking bread’ 

at the family meal table (including all its moments 

of spilt milk, toddler tantrums, and sibling 

arguments) is more urgent, more direct, more 

incarnational, and ultimately more sacramentally 

fruitful, than drawing families to an inaccessible 

altar viewed on a TV or computer screen. 

Think about it: we are living through a moment in 

history when, in every parish and diocese around 

the world, the domestic space is the only place 

where most Catholics can be fully present to one 

another in celebrating their Catholic traditions. 

In fact, the terrible necessity of enforced home 

isolation has opened up an extraordinary 

opportunity: to call the faithful—family units of 

every kind and configuration—to rediscover their 

power to ‘be’ Church, each within their unique 

domestic context. 

The resounding message from our ecclesial 

leadership, surely, has to be: 

Our public worship places are closed, but now 

is the time for our lay faithful to step up. Your 

home is a holy place; you are ‘priest’ in your own 

home; your meal table is your ‘altar’; your family 

is the Church in miniature, the ‘domestic Church’, 

which, like the universal Church, has all the marks 

of a priestly, prophetic calling to embody the reign 

of God. 

Put simply, by St John Paul II: “Family, become 

what you are!” 

The idea of family as the ‘domestic Church’ is 

part of our biblical and patristic heritage and 


45

Image: Shutterstock.com. 

With the onset 

of the pandemic, 

we have seen a 

wonderful explosion 

of home-based 

spirituality resources 

from pastoral and 

education agencies. 

was reaffirmed at Vatican II (Lumen 

Gentium, 11; cf. Acts 2:46, Rom 16:5, 

and the writings of John Chrysostom). 

Today, in the time of coronavirus, we 

have an unprecedented opportunity 

to ‘grow’ the Church in its most basic 

ecclesial experience: marital intimacy, 

parental love, family relationships and 

the domestic space—the primary 

place where we practise what it 

means to love, serve, forgive and pray. 

Compared to the virtual experience 

of ‘watching’ Mass on a screen, 

the relational exchanges within the 

home are a more direct ecclesial 

participation and a tangible, embodied 

presence—all woven into the fabric of 

our sacramental life as Catholics. 

With the onset of the pandemic, we 

have seen a wonderful explosion of 

home-based spirituality resources 

from pastoral and education agencies. 

Now is the time for the ecclesial 

leadership to name and capitalise 

upon this phenomenon: 

This is the hour of the domestic 

Church! Families, lay faithful, lead 

the way! Show us how to do this. 

Leave your mark on our parishes and 

dioceses. Shift our ground to a more 

familial base; free us from clinging to 

the clericalist ways of the past. 

To borrow a line from Pope Francis, 

‘So what are we waiting for?’ 

(Evangelii Gaudium, 120). 

It is time to move beyond the 

initial crisis management period 

(with its focus on the provision of 

online Masses), to intentional lay 

empowerment. Our conversations can 

be less about the pros and cons of 

‘virtual’ Mass attendance and ‘private 

Mass’, and more filled with talk of 

‘home-based spirituality’ and topics 

such as: meal table rituals, everyday 

holiness, simplified lifestyle, family 

prayer and home-based festivities, 

couple/parent leadership, ways to talk 

with our teenagers about faith, finding 

God in a messy house, stories from 

the saints at home, loving your spouse 

under lockdown pressures, Gospel 

dating tips during coronavirus, praying 

your way through another day of 

home-based schooling, and so on. 

In other words, this pandemic is a 

46

significant moment to rediscover the 

Church’s familial heart. (This familial 

heart includes, of course, family 

members who are singles, celibates, 

and one-person households!) 

It is 56 years since Vatican II called 

forth the mission of the ‘domestic 

Church’ (LG, 11); it is 39 years since 

Pope John Paul II summoned families 

to their ‘original’, ‘irreplaceable’, 

and ‘formidable’ role in transforming 

society (Familiaris consortio, 43); and 

five years since Pope Francis’ shared 

the fruits of a double-synodal pastoral 

focus on the family (Amoris Laetitia). 

Further, it is nearly two millennia since 

the Jewish people rose from the ashes 

of their destroyed Temple (70 CE), 

with the strategic integration of homebased 

religious practice, including 

the Passover seder and the weekly 

Sabbath meal. 

There is no questioning the centrality 

of Sunday Eucharist in our Catholic 

tradition; but when Mass dominates 

to the point of relegating the 

sacramentality of family life to a 

secondary focus or attempting to 

transfer worship practices that belong 

in the parish Church to the family living 

room, then we have lost something 

both precious and essential to our very 

understanding of what it means to be 

an Eucharistic people. 

As they say, ‘Never waste a crisis’. 

Coronavirus will have a grip for some 

time. Just as our nation requires a 

long-term economic strategy, our 

Church requires a long-term spiritual 

strategy. What kind of faith community 

do we want at the end of all this, and 

how will we get there? 

Within the crisis lies an opportunity: to 

name, affirm and unleash the hidden 

ecclesial energies of our families and 

domestic dwellings. If we do, we will 

emerge as a Church strengthened at 

its very roots. 

Clergy-centred strategies such as 

online Masses have their place as 

stop-gap measures, but that is all they 

can be. They may see us through a 

crisis, but inevitably they will lead us 

back to ‘business as usual’. Has there 

ever been a better time to make the 

homes of the Christian faithful a major 

ecclesial priority? 

Teresa Pirola is a Sydneybased 

Freelance Faith Educator, 

contactable at teresapirola. 

com. This article was originally 

published in Marriage Resource 

Centre E-Journal, 30 April 2020 - 

marriageresourcecentre.org. 



47

The power of purpose 

By Catholic Outlook Staff 

Bishop Vincent Long 

OFM Conv, Bishop of 

Parramatta, asks us 

to live more fully, more 

creatively and more at 

the periphery. By this, 

he means reaching out 

to those on the margins 

such as asylum seekers, 

the homeless, Indigenous 

people, LGBTQI people 

or victims of injustice. 

CatholicCare Western Sydney and the 

Blue Mountains (WSBM) has taken 

up Bishop Vincent’s challenge. They 

have launched a new plan for looking 

at how, over the next three years, they 

can take the organisation beyond its 

comfort zone, take some risks and 

venture into the deep to care and walk 

beside those people who need help on 

life’s journey. 

CatholicCare aims to connect people 

and families with their communities 

in Western Sydney and the Blue 

Mountains, so they can live with joy 

and purpose. 

“Purpose gives us hope, reason and 

drives our desire for wellbeing,” says 

Peter Loughnane, Executive Director 

of CatholicCare WSBM. 

“Many of our clients come to us with 

nowhere to sleep at night and no 

means of putting food on the table,” 

he says. Once those needs have 

been dealt with, he says, the aim is 

to put the words of Pope Francis into 

practice. Pope Francis, says Peter, 

“sees the world as a field hospital, a 

place that heals their wounds first, and 

then accompanies them on a journey 

towards a dignified life.” 

CatholicCare WSBM plans to integrate 

into the community so people in need 

know about their services. The agency 

then aims to become a partner with 

the client, and journey beside them as 

they decide on their goals and work 

towards achieving them. 

“Purpose and joy put people on the 

48

path to helping themselves,” says Peter. “We’ll fill the gaps in 

the current mix of community services and walk beside people 

to achieve their goals.” 

Services operate across the whole of the Diocese of 

Parramatta. 

“We plan to work with other services, engage with communities 

including parishes, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 

communities and refugee communities. In particular, we will 

increase our services in the area of aged care and disability 

services,” says Peter. 

How will the agency know they have succeeded? 

“For every goal we have set, we have also planned how we will 

measure it,” says Peter. “We’ve got many objectives such as 

helping more marginalised and diverse people and increasing 

the number of community-led projects we initiate.” 

Peter also emphasises not just what they will do, but how they 

will do it. 

“We embrace every journey with gratitude and love. 


“This value is fundamental to our work and the way we 

work together: with an open mind and heart; with integrity 

and respect; with patience and passion and with resilience 

and belief.” 

Carer’s help transform mum’s life 

Domestic violence, drugs, alcohol, mental trauma, 

homelessness, stealing to support a habit, police, court 

appearances … Katie’s* life had spiralled way out of control. 

Somehow, she found the strength to reach out for help, and 

CatholicCare’s Aboriginal Catholic Services in Western Sydney, 

she says, has been there for her every day since. 

“I had to change my life around,” she said. “I feel so comfortable 

speaking with the counsellor. She gave me amazing words, and 

reminded me of the values of my grandparents, of what I want in 

my life and how I can raise my kids. I might have a good cry, and 

she is always there to sit and listen. 

“Without that support, and knowing my needs, I probably would 

have tripped along the way to where I am now.” 

Katie is now studying at TAFE and says she’s “getting back to 

being a mum, a normal mum.” 

“They have never left me,” she said of CatholicCare. “They have 

stuck through it all with me. They have done an amazing job.” 

*Not her real name. 

Model used. Image: Shutterstock. 

49

Like the Good Samaritan, CatholicCare chaplains 

are beacons of comfort, love and hope 

By Parramatta Catholic Foundation 

Fr Marcelo - CatholicCare Chaplain and priest ordained in the Camillian Order. 


CatholicCare chaplains work in hospitals and prisons 

throughout Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains. They 

accompany and minister to people facing serious or lifethreatening 

health conditions. They are there for everyone 

in need of prayer, companionship and a listening ear, 

regardless of whether they belong to a particular faith. 

Our CatholicCare chaplains journey deep into our 

community, ensuring that spiritual, emotional and 

sacramental support is available for all who find 

themselves in vulnerable situations. 

Father Marcelo is a chaplain at Westmead Hospital and 

The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. 

“As chaplains, we help, heal and alleviate distress in 

people’s time of need,” Fr Marcelo explains. “It’s uplifting 

for them to have support, whether it’s emotional, spiritual, 

or connecting them with others. 

“For those who are isolated and without family or friends 

around, we provide companionship, ease loneliness and 

bring joy and purpose in life. 

“One time, at the hospital, I was called to intensive care 

because a baby was dying,” he remembers. 

“I prayed over the fragile newborn while doctors frantically 

tried to resuscitate her. With God’s grace, she recovered. 

Her Mum, lapsed in faith, was so touched and grateful, she 

wanted to open herself up to return to God’s love and have 

her baby baptised.” 

CatholicCare Chaplaincy is a service of the Diocese of 

Parramatta. 

Please give a gift today to support our CatholicCare chaplains 

answer their calling to be beacons of love and hope, and to help 

the sick and isolated. To donate, please call 02 8838 3482 or 

visit yourcatholicfoundation.org.au/appealcatholiccare. 

50

For I was sick, and you 

took care of me… 

Just as the Good Samaritan came to the aid of the man left 

half-dead by the side of the road and gave him comfort and a 

place to recover, CatholicCare chaplains help people in their 

time of need. 

Father Domingo is a chaplain at Westmead Hospital. 

“Every individual we visit has different needs, depending on 

their situation. Some want to pray, nurture their faith, and 

receive the sacraments,” he says. 

“Others need a listening ear, someone to talk to about their 

worries, what they consider important, and their relationship 

with God, their families and others. 

“And it’s not just patients and their families who we minister to. 

“We also provide spiritual and emotional support for the 

doctors, nurses, and hospital staff, as they themselves care for 

their patients during illness, uncertainty and even death. 

“We will always be there to provide a link to God’s presence for 

anyone in hospital.” 

During this COVID pandemic, chaplains are often the only 

visitors allowed into hospitals. 

As our community and the needs of the vulnerable, ill and 

isolated grows, it is vital that we ensure there are enough 

chaplains to serve and give spiritual, sacramental and 

emotional support. 

Fr Domingo provides comfort and care to the sick. 


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Contact Christina at comms@parracatholic.org for details.

‘Be more’ through Project Compassion 

By Patrice Moriarty 

We can support 

Jamila and our 

brothers and sisters 

around the world by 

praying, advocating, 

and sharing 

our resources 

with Project 

Compassion. 

Jamila, a single Rohingya mother from 

Myanmar, with her young daughter, in the 

Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh. 

Image: Inmanuel Chayan Biswas/Caritas 

Bangladesh/Caritas Australia. 

Project Compassion focuses our attention on helping vulnerable communities 

around the globe. Here’s how you can find out about the communities Catholics 

help each year. 

Project Compassion is a chance – 

every year – for Catholics across 

Australia to come together in solidarity 

with our brothers and sisters across 

the world living in the situation of 

poverty. Together, we assisted over 

three million people in 2020 and 

helped many vulnerable communities 

respond to, and restrict, COVID-19. 

This year our theme is “Be More,” 

taken from St Oscar Romero’s famous 

quote “Aspire not to have more, but to 

be more.” This is a perfect reflection 

to carry with us throughout Lent. In 

what ways are we striving to be the 

person God calls us to be, and what 

are the things in our life pulling us 

away from that call? 

Jamila, Project Compassion’s feature 

person for this year, lives in Cox’s 

Bazar, a refugee camp in Bangladesh 

which holds 1.3 million people. After 

fleeing from Myanmar, she received 

emergency access to food and 

counselling through Caritas. She’s 

also participated in health, hygiene 

and parenting sessions and now 

earns an income with her own sewing 

business. 

We can support Jamila and our brothers 

and sisters around the world by 

praying, advocating, and sharing our 

resources with Project Compassion. 

Perhaps we can raise money for Project 

Compassion, just like Sacred Heart 

Parish, Blackheath did last year with a 

pancake stall after Mass. 

Alternatively, you can play the weekly 

videos of stories like Jamila’s before 

or after Mass, just like Our Lady, 

Queen of Peace Parish, Greystanes. 

Each and every person can participate 

in Project Compassion and be part 

of our global movement of love and 

compassion for all. 

Caritas Australia have videos, 

reflections, slideshows and even 

virtual immersions where you can 

interact with our international and 

national staff on their website. The 

resources are suitable for families, 

schools or parishes to during Lent. 

Find them at lent.caritas.org.au or call 

the Diocese on (02) 8838 3400. 

Patrice Moriarty is the Social Justice 

Coordinator in the Diocese of 

Parramatta. 

52

Faith for children in public 

schools during Year of the Family 

By Cecilia Zammit 

Happy New Year to all 

our catechists, we hope 

you enjoyed Christmas 

and New Year. We 

are looking forward to 

another year of working 

with you all as we 

continue to share our 

faith and the Gospel with 

Catholic children in our 

state schools. 

In this Year of the Family we are proud 

of the role that our catechists play in 

taking the faith to Catholic families 

in the local public schools. As our 

catechists are being welcomed back 

into public schools, we will follow the 

same COVID-safe protocols as in 2020. 

Parents are their child’s first 

teachers 

Parents and carers are the first 

teachers of the faith to their children 

and catechists see their role as 

partners in bringing hope and purpose 

to young lives. 

Parents, every Mass you take your 

child to, every prayer you say at home 

together and every discussion you 

have with them about what they learn 

in Religious Education classes will 

progress them in their faith journey. 

We encourage you to seek out the 

family videos, FaithFlix that can be 

found on The Well (thewell.org.au) and 

watch them with your children. 

Welcome to new Catechists 

The short video on The Well called 

The Joy of being a Catechist is an 

impressive resource being used by 

parishes to promote this important 

ministry. We welcome the new 

parishioners that have come forward 

to volunteer. Find the video on 

thewell.org.au. 

Training 

Training is important for every 

catechist. This year Confraternity of 

Christian Doctrine will be offering a 

combination of face-to-face training 

opportunities as well as training via 

Zoom throughout March, April and 

May. 

Level 1 Training 

Fridays March and April 

9.30am to 2.30pm via Zoom. 

The second course begins 3 May. 


March 7pm to 9pm via Zoom. 


April and May 10am to 2pm at 

IFM Blacktown. 

Contact Maree on (02) 8838 3486 or 

email maree.collis@parracatholic.org 

for enquiries and bookings. 

Cecilia Zammit is the Director of 

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine 

in the Diocese of Parramatta. To 

find out more about becoming a 

catechist in 2021, contact Cecilia at 

Cecilia.zammit@parracatholic.org or 

(02) 8838 3486. 

The Joy of Being a Catechist. 

Image: CEDP. 

53

Listen, Watch, 

Read, Think ! 

LISTEN IN 

 

A long Easter road trip gives plenty of time for podcasts. 

There’s an abundance of topics to explore. Here’s some to try: 

/ On Being by Krista Tippett (soundcloud.com) 

Former American President Barack Obama awarded 

Krista Tippett the National Humanities Medal for 

“thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human 

existence.” Her podcast, On Being, features people of 

all backgrounds as she delves into what it means to 

be human and how we want to live. It has been named 

best podcast by The New York Times, The Wall Street 

Journal and The Guardian. 

/ Short and Curly (ABC Listen App) 

This family podcast examines ethical questions 

confronting children like “Is it fair when a whole class 

is punished when one person did the wrong thing?” A 

great one to generate family discussion on what’s right 

and wrong. 

/ Journey Catholic Radio (soundcloud.com 

Apple podcasts and on Pulse 94.1FM Wollongong) 

A weekly show developed by the Catholic Diocese 

of Wollongong containing Gospel readings and 

discussions about faith, hope, love, and life. 

/ Figuring Out Families – Majellan Media (Apple/ 

Spotify/Google and more) 

Majellan Media have provided advice for families 

for over 70 years through their publications. In 

this podcast they speak to family and relationship 

specialists on topics such as “Win Win Parenting”; 

“Dealing with difficult family members”; “Faith and 

spirituality in families’; and “Problems and relationship 

repair”. 

/ The Bible in a Year (with Fr Mike Schmitz) - 

Ascension Catholic Faith Formation (Apple/Spotify) 

Fr Mike Schmitz walks you through the entire Bible in 

365 episodes, providing commentary, reflection and 

prayer along the way. 

TUNE IT 

Music can remind us of what Easter is about. Here’s some 

songs to look up on YouTube or your music streaming 

service for your own Easter reflection. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy is the Lamb by Australian duo Gus & Iggy 

At the Foot of the Cross by Australian-based Maltese 

priest Fr Rob Galea 

Death Was Arrested by American band North Point 

InsideOut featuring Seth Condrey 

Beautiful Is Your Love by American Catholic musician 

Josh Blakesley 

I Have Seen the Lord by The Vigil Project, a Catholic 

non-profit ministry and musician collective 

Reckless Love by Corey Asbury 

54

READ IT 

“Read something worthwhile” has made it to many new year’s 

resolution lists. If it’s on yours, take a look at Pope Francis’ 

new book Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future. 

Here’s what you’ll find: 

Ǳ 

Ǳ 

Ǳ 

Ǳ 

Ǳ 

Ǳ 

Ǳ 

Ǳ 

At 160 pages and with a down-to-earth tone, it’s an easy 

read for busy people. Alternatively, it’s on Audible, so you 

can listen on the go. 

You’ll probably view the world a lot more hopefully after 

you finish. Pope Francis genuinely cares about people, 

the world and our children’s future. 

He draws on the wisdom of modern thinkers such 

as forward-thinking economists and aligns them with 

teachings of the Church. 

Women will be particularly encouraged by his recognition 

of their management talents. 

He explains how we can open up to the good things 

around us. 

It’s clear we really do rely on each other when the going 

gets tough. 

The book awakens us to the need to ‘dream big’, and 

how times like right now are a chance to change things 

for the better. 

After a compelling case for change, Pope Francis 

helpfully suggests the first step we can take as an 

individual – contact a service you think might need your 

help and say to them that you would like to be part of a 

different world, and “this might be a good place to start”. 

Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future 

By Pope Francis and Austen Ivereigh 

ISBN13 9781398502208 

Published by Simon and Schuster Ltd 

T 

 

Soul – Classified PG 

WATCH IT 

The Disney movie Soul hit the screens in October 2020 and 

can now be streamed on Disney+. 

As its name suggests, it’s a story about life before and after 

death and deals with the big questions about the meaning 

of life. 

Reviews have been mixed. It doesn’t strictly follow Catholic 

beliefs that souls exist before conception. Some reviewers 

say this doesn’t mean it doesn’t have great messages for 

our young people. 

The storyline follows the journey of a music teacher (voiced 

by Jamie Foxx) whose soul ends up in the afterlife after an 

accident. He becomes a mentor to an impatient younger 

soul (voiced by Tina Fey). Together they go on a journey, 

ending up at a place of self-discovery and an examination 

of the purpose of life – even if it’s not what they originally 

planned. 

Soul is an opportunity for parents to talk to their children 

about life after death. The Australian Council on Children 

and the Media also suggests that it gives parents the 

opportunity to discuss attitudes, and real-life behaviours 

with their children such as “What happens when people 

lose sight of the true meaning of life?”, and “negative selftalk” 

and how it can be overcome. 

The Australian Council on Children and the Media suggests 

Soul may be too mature and contain scary scenes for 

children aged under eight years. 

55

Search for 

Search for Easter words (word search is two words) 

Easter words 

How many of these words do you know? Do you know what th 

Easter? (Hint – you’ll find the answer in this magazine). Find th 

How many of the words below do you know? 

sideways, Do you know what and they horizontally! mean in relation After to Lent you’ve and Easter? found all the words, s 

(Hint – you’ll find the answer in this magazine). 

message. 

Find them in 

this puzzle. 

Look up, down, sideways, 

and horizontally! After 

you’ve found all the 

words, see if you can 

find the hidden 

message. 

J E S U S C G I P P V E S U C S N E W L 

I F E B H V X I R A B V D D L A W S M H 

W S E R J F T O E H S N E S I R N M U B 

H A I E T T C Z E U N C W Z H P L D G E 

R S S Q Y E C L E D O I H D U A F O L T 

M D B H S S M J Y K P T S A P M N W S E 

H N R S I A D G S E B T U U L B G O Y I 

O V I H M N W U T D Y U Q I D T C Z O S 

M O R N F B G D G I K D J U X E K J I T 

N S D O R E C O N C I L I A T I O N G Q 

H T R I D U U M F B C M Q N L S J W D N 

M T A T H V W N I F Z N E J P C Z B O O 

H F B C F I F T Y X E P L I G I V I M G 

L N V E B T E M I T R E T S A E S T Y I 

D D E R T W D Y M U E R T W H S C T G N 

Q V I R Q G F Q P H V A X E A B W V C D 

D W X U O V D Y X U Q P V P O A U J O F 

W M Q S Z N Q U W J C Y F F Y H S G S U 

X T E E T E R I V W E N G O J H G Y L V 

U L Z R B K P Q C Q G U M H J T C D T A 

56 

CANDLE 

CHRISM 

EASTER TIME 

FIFTY 

PALM 

CANDLE 

CHRISM 

EASTERTIME 

FIFTY 

PALM 

PASCHAL 

PASCHAL 

PASSION 

PENTECOST 

PROCESSION 

RECONCILIATION 

RESURRECTION 

RISEN 

TRIDUUM 

VIGIL 

WASHING OF FEET

Kids' Corner 

This year is the Year of St Joseph in the Catholic Church. St Joseph was a good parent to Jesus. He looked 

after the Holy Family, making sure Mary and Jesus were safe and had everything they needed. He was with 

Jesus when he learnt to walk and talk and would have taken him into his workshop too. St Joseph was 

strong, he worked hard, and he was very caring. He trusted God when God told him to take care of Mary 

before Jesus was born. 

St Joseph teaches us to respect and appreciate our parents and everything they do for us, and to trust in God. 

57

Directory of Services 

Houses to Homes 

Disability NDIS 

Mamre Garden 

Services 

Blacktown Family 

Support 

Financial Counselling 

Problem Gambling 

Project Elizabeth 

Blacktown Neighbour 

Aid For Blacktown 

LGA 

Community Visitors 

Scheme 

Family & Relationship 

Services (FARS) 

Aboriginal Catholic 

Service Emerton 

Springwood 

Drop-in Centre 

Baulkham Hills Family 

Day Care Centre 

(02) 8843 2500 or visit ccss.org.au 

A service for pregnant girls or parenting 

young women, 16-25 years old, homeless 

or at risk of homelessness in the Blacktown 

LGA. Accommodation and parenting skills, 

with transition to education and long term 

housing. 

A service with people with a disability, it is 

part of the Government’s National Disability 

Insurance Scheme. Catholic Care provides 

Plan Management and Home Support. 

Offers employment for people with a 

disability by providing garden services in the 

community, to individual homes, schools, 

parishes. New gardening clients welcome. 

A free service for families with children and 

young people 0-17, who are experiencing 

stress and/or relationship difficulties. includes 

Intensive Family Preservation. 

A free service offering a range of supports to 

help clients manage finances. 

A free service offers assistance to individuals 

and families affected by problem gambling. 

Counselling for people experiencing parenting 

issues with children up to two years of 

age, also covers still births, miscarriages, 

unexpected pregnancies. 

A program of social inclusion for seniors. 

Provides accompaniment for social activities, 

shopping, transport to medical appointments. 

New volunteers welcome. 

Visit socially isolated residents in aged care 

facilities across the diocese. New volunteers 

welcome. 

Counselling for adults, couples, families, 

children.Family Law Court referrals. 

Grief and Loss. 

Drop-In centre for local community. 

CatholicCare services provided for individuals 

and groups. 

Drop-In centre for local community. 

CatholicCare services provided for individuals 

and groups. 

Accredited childcare in Hills area. 

Contractors offer care in own home. 

Chancery Office 

www.parracatholic.org 

(02) 8838 3400 

diocese@parracatholic.org 


(02) 8838 3400 

bishop@parracatholic.org 

Catholic Education 

Diocese of Parramatta 

(02) 9840 5600 

communityliaison@parra.catholic.edu.au 

Catholic Diocese of Parramatta 

Services Limited 

(02) 9407 7044 

enquiries@cdpsl.org.au 

CatholicCare Western Sydney 

and the Blue Mountains 

(02) 8843 2500 

enquiries@ccss.org.au 

Institute for Mission 

(02) 9296 6369 

connect@ifm.org.au 

Diocesan Ministries 

Catholic Youth Parramatta 

Life, Marriage & Family Office 

Office for Worship 

Pastoral Planning Office 

Social Justice Office 

(02) 8838 3460 

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine 

(02) 8838 3486 

ccd@parracatholic.org 

Tribunal Office 

(02) 8838 3480 

tribunal@parracatholic.org 

Vocations 

(02) 8838 3460 

vocations@parracatholic.org 

Parramatta Catholic Foundation 

(02) 8838 3482 

yourfoundation@parracatholic.org 

Diocesan Development Fund 

(02) 8839 4500 

enquiries@parraddf.org.au 

Holy Spirit Seminary 

(02) 9296 6300 

Office for Safeguarding 

(02) 8838 3419 

safeguarding@parracatholic.org 

58

Latest Appointments 

in the Diocese of Parramatta 

Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta, has confirmed 

these appointments in the Diocese of Parramatta: 

Rev John McSweeney 

Dean of the Mountains Deanery from 15 October 2020 until 2 August 2021. 

Rev Chadi Ibrahim SDB 

Assistant Priest of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta from 1 November 2020. 

Rev Joby Kadambattuparambil Ittira MS 

Dean of the Central East Deanery from 22 December 2020 until 2 August 2021. 

Rev Alan Layt 

Dean of the Central West Deanery from 22 December 2020 until 2 August 2021. 

Rev Huy Viet Nguyen SJ 

Assistant Priest of Holy Family Parish, Mt Druitt from 15 January 2021. 

Rev Leo Choi SDB 

Assistant Priest of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, St Marys from 15 January 2021. 

Rev Clifford D’souza MSFS 

Assistant Priest of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, Greystanes from 16 January 2021. 

Very Rev Robert Riedling 

Dean and Administrator of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta from 1 March 2021. 

Brother David O’Brien SDB 

Assistant at Don Bosco Youth and Recreation Centre, St Marys. 

Fr Joby Kadambattuparambil Ittira MS, Dean of the Central East Deanery. 


Why is Faith important in a family? 

Fr Vincent Savarimuthu, 

Parish Priest, St Madeleine 

Sophie Barat Parish, 

Kenthurst 

Images: Supplied. 

“As breath is to life, so 

faith is to family. Faith 

in God creates a loving, 

trusting atmosphere in 

the family; it enriches the 

relationships among the 

members of the family; 

it heals the wounds and 

hurts bound to happen 

in any relationship. Faith 

in the family reflects the 

Family of Triune God. 

Faith enables them to 

embrace others in the 

spirit of love and service”. 

Christine Ranaste, 

Parish Coordinator, 

Our Lady of the Way 

Parish, Emu Plains 

“The family is called 

the domestic church 

which, like cells of a 

body, holds the body 

of Christ together. 

Faith in the family is 

like the DNA which 

helps us individually 

and corporately to 

function according to 

the will and purpose 

of our God”. 

Joy Adan, writer, speaker 

and content producer 

and mother of two, 

St Andrew the Apostle 

Parish, Marayong 

“Our Faith invites us 

into a deeply personal, 

relevant relationship 

with God, who is 

unwavering and reliable 

and provides us 

direction and comfort 

in the midst of the 

everyday chaos of 

marriage and parenting. 

I believe Faith is the 

greatest gift my parents 

gave to me, and the 

best things I can offer 

my children”.

The Diocesan Development Fund (DDF) is not a typical investment vehicle. While the 

money invested in the DDF pays interest to its investors, a small part finds its way to 

programs in your parish and throughout the Diocese of Parramatta. 

For example, counselling programs to address drug addiction, marital 

breakdown, family violence, and poverty together with adult education and youth 

development programs are all funded by investors in the DDF. 

To find out more contact us on (02) 8839 4500 | parracatholic.org/ddf. 

Disclosure Statement 

The Diocesan Development Fund Catholic Diocese of Parramatta (DDF) (the Fund) is required by law to make the following disclosure. The Fund is not prudentially supervised by 

the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. An investor in the Fund will not 

receive the benefit 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. The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by Australian 

Securities and Investments Commission. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and any investment of the Fund are 

not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed at https://parracatholic.org or by contacting 

the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.

Catholic Outlook Magazine Autumn 2021

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