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The Australian government is in effect conducting a campaign of cruelty towards asylum seekers, the Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, Bishop Christopher Saunders, said on 23 January 2014   ‘The government’s campaign, like that of its predecessors, has only one purpose: to deter desperate men, women and children from seeking protection from persecution and danger’, Bishop Saunders said.
‘The government claims that it is fighting a war’, Bishop Saunders said. ‘If it is a war, then it is being fought against wretched and defenceless people.’
‘We are ignoring the most important issue: the millions of people in our region and around the world who need protection and security.
‘The only hope for a solution to the refugee problem is international cooperation’, Bishop Saunders said.
‘Australia’s policies are undermining and destroying that hope by angering the very nations we need to work with.
‘It seems that friendly relationships with our neighbours are becoming collateral damage in pursuit of an aggressive and callous policy’, Bishop Saunders continued.
‘Can we be surprised if Indonesia is offended when Australian naval ships stray into its waters, or when we ignore its protests and force boats to turn back to their sovereign territory?’
Bishop Saunders quoted recent words of Pope Francis, who said: ‘Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity’. The Pope called for us all to move away from ‘attitudes of defensiveness and fear’.

Parish Bingo has resumed on Thursdays at 8pm at the Sunbury Football Club in air conditioned comfort.
Final prize is $200.

Tuesday 25 February from 8.30am to 4.30pm at Catholic Leadership Centre, Melbourne will be a Colloquium on the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis “Evangelii Gaudium”. More information from Kevin Meese 9639 1344.

CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS

Through stewardship we are called to be the light of Christ to others. In today’s first reading from Isaiah, and repeated by the Lord in Matthew’s Gospel is that radiant statement, “The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light.” We are all aware of the joy of light. Of course, this light is much more than just luminescence. This is also the light of understanding and faith, the light to which the Scripture really refers.

It is worth knowing that the Land of Zebulon and the Land of Naphtali where this light shines was during Jesus’ time in the land of Galilee. Jesus begins His ministry there in fulfillment of the prophecy we hear in Isaiah. There is much more on which we need to contemplate in the Gospel, of course. It begins with Jesus proclaiming the Good News and ends with the Lord calling others to follow Him — specifically, Andrew, Simon Peter, James, and John. These men, who were to become the foundation of the Apostles, provide us with a glimpse of our own callings.

Each of us is called as a disciple, as a steward, of Jesus Christ. Our challenge is to hear that call, respond to it, seek our own vocation, and live it out as good Stewards of the Good News. Where are you in that process? Each of us needs to pursue our Christian calling.

Copyright © 2014 www.TheCatholicSteward.com

Reflection on the Gospel – Australia Day, 26 January 2014 (Matthew 5:1-12)

We have become so familiar with the beatitudes that there is a danger of our listening only to the mellifluous flow of language and of failing to attend to the extraordinary present and future reversal that they offer to those who suffer injustice and to those who choose non-violent ways of addressing it. With the escalation of violence across the globe and with powerful leaders opting for military rather than diplomatic solutions to global conflicts or threats, it is time to listen anew to these opening words of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

The mountain setting establishes Jesus as wisdom teacher like Moses of old. God’s favour rests on the poor, on the gentle, on those who grieve for the pain of the world, on serious justice seekers, on those who know how to mercy, on the pure in heart, on peacemakers, and on those who suffer in the cause of right. The repetition of ‘blessed are…’ (a better translation of the Greek makarioi than ‘happy’) provides multiple links with Israel’s collection of sacred songs, the Psalms. For Israel’s lyricists, God’s favour or blessing is on those whose hope is in God, on those whose delight is in God’s way, on those who take refuge in God, on the guileless in spirit, and on those whom God forgives. The content of the beatitudes echoes the voice of Israel’s prophets, especially Isaiah 61. God’s spirit is upon Jesus. He brings the good news of God’s present and future favour or blessing to the destitute and to those who mourn. The distinguishing mark of God’s favoured ones is righteousness or right relationship.

God’s favour or blessing comes in diverse forms: the basileia or empire of the heavens; comfort in the face of grief; the earth for a heritage; the joy of being mercied; face to face encounter with God; a great reward ‘in heaven’. If heaven is only a place to be enjoyed in the afterlife, it is little consolation for the desperately poor or for those who are persecuted or misrepresented to know that ‘the empire of the heavens is theirs’ or that their ‘reward is great in heaven’. ‘Heaven’ is better understood as a way of talking about God or God’s empire of justice and compassion in contrast with the heartless empire of Rome and its modern equivalents. Maybe the most urgent invitation in our present context is to mourn strategically the displacement of so many of earth’s inhabitants who long for the blessing of God’s kin-dom in the form of comfort and mercy and a share of the earth’s resources.

The Parish is able to offer Gluten free breads to be consecrated during Eucharist. If you wish to receive the gluten free host, please inform the person setting up for Eucharist. The Minister for Communion at the central aisle will have your host in a separate pyx.

As part of its 160th Anniversary Celebrations in 2014, the Catholic Parish of Castlemaine is offering a pilgrimage to Jordan and Israel, Walking with Mary in September this year. Parishioners would welcome pilgrims from other parishes joining with us. Interested pilgrims are invited to an Information Session on Saturday 1st February at 2.00pm in the Buckley Room. Pilgrimage Information Packages are available from Fr Tony Doran PP (Anthony.Doran@cam.org.au or 5472 1900).

The Catholic population grew 9.8% in the years 2006 to 2011 to 13232 persons, 35% of the total population. The number of Catholic households is 5855, where 755 Catholics live alone. The total population of our area increased by 8.6% to 36238.
The number of parishioners requiring assistance in self-care, communication and mobility was 565; those Catholics providing unpaid help were 1252.
Those unemployed were 4%, though those aged 15-24 who are in the labour force and unemployed at the time of 2011 were 8.6% (10.2% Australian average).
Those parishioners born in Australia are 83%; other countries:
2.4% Italy,
2% UK,
1.6% Malta,
1.2% Philippines,
1.1% India,
1% Ireland (21 other countries under 1%)
12% of our families are one-parent families (Australian average ); 56% of couples have mixed religions, 15% are de facto.
83% of families own or are purchasing their homes.
-from material prepared by the Pastoral Research Office of Australian Bishops from census data from Australian Bureau of Statistics

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)  infamously taunted Christians about the lack of joy on their faces and in their lives. “They would have to sing better songs for me to believe in their Saviour: his disciples would have to look more redeemed!”
Nietzsche the German atheist Philosopher,  had a point. Christians can often appear joyless, not joyful. We can literally become ‘killjoys’, murdering the spirit of light heartedness that signifies closeness to God.
There can be a constant ‘moralism’ in some of our Catholic rhetoric that does nothing but bemoan the evils all around us. It is counter-productive and we end up talking to ourselves. By contrast, Jesus attracted people to him with joy – he did not preach ‘at’ his fellow Galileans. If we are without joy, we exude displeasure and are prone to pick fights. Others perceive a hostile streak in us. We can insult people. We lack patience. What flows from our mouths are not blessings but barbs of bitterness.
We lack gratitude. We also lack human warmth and seem to be angry at ourselves and the world. The profile of such joylessness is clear and distasteful: bitter, impatient, pugnacious, hostile, cold and aloof – all ‘killjoy’ qualities. By contrast, as Pope Francis constantly reminds us, Christian joy is buoyant and warm, light-hearted, gracious and life-giving.
….. Br Mark O’Connor FMS, December 2013 Director of Archdiocesan Evangelisation Office

CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS

Stewardship calls us to serve others. Stewardship calls us to trust in God. Stewardship calls us to live our lives in reflection of Jesus Christ. Stewardship calls us to be sacrificial in our commitment to God and to those around us.

The readings for this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time echo all of those stewardship elements. Jesus was tempted in many ways throughout His ministry. It would have been easy for Him to become discouraged. Imagine being rejected by society when all you did was love and serve. Yet Jesus does not become discouraged because He trusted in God. As it states in the first reading from Isaiah, “God is now my strength.”

With Jesus’ help, by the grace of God, we, too, can overcome discouragement and many burdens by trusting and by living lives of stewardship. Stewardship is relatively simple: it means recognizing that we have been gifted in multiple ways by a loving God, and then returning a portion of those gifts – our time, talent, and treasure – to the Lord in thanksgiving.

John the Baptist was sent to herald the coming of the lamb. We, too, are called to that noble effort. “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Copyright © 2014 www.TheCatholicSteward.com

We celebrate the Birthday of Australia’s first saint, St Mary MacKillop on Wednesday 15 January at 11am Mass in Sacred Heart Church, King William St, Fitzroy.
Light refreshments available and cutting of the cake.
Everyone is most welcome.

Calendars are still available in the Piety Stall. They are very beautiful and practical calendars and only $10.00. All unsold calendars will be returned by the start of February.

15 March in the Parish centre will have a return of the Band we had last year for the St Patrick’s day dance.
50’s, 60’s and 70’s music.
Get in early as we had a very fun night.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE RIPCHORDS WEBSITE FOR VIDEO CLIPS ETC.

A taste of their music below

Reflection on the Gospel-The Baptism of Jesus Year A, 12 January 2014 (Matthew 3:13-17)

The Baptism of Jesus marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Ordinary Time. In many places, it coincides with the end of the Christmas break, a return to work and to the regular patterns of life. Some of us have been lucky enough to get some ‘down time’ after Christmas, time to reflect on the past year, alone or with loved ones, and to set goals for the year ahead, to move into Ordinary Time with renewed life and vigour. It will be a different sort of Ordinary Time for those in the Philippines who suffered devastating losses as a result of Typhoon Haiyan and who still struggle to rebuild their lives and their homes. Such events raise our awareness of the changes that we can expect as our planet warms. They alert us to our particular personal and global responsibilities in this respect.

The baptism story is an initiation or commissioning story. We are invited to hear it against the backdrop of the first reading from Isaiah 42. Jesus is God’s chosen one on whom God’s Spirit rests. The voice of God commissions God’s chosen to bring forth justice, sensitively and without fanfare; to be a light to the peoples; to open the eyes of the blind and to set the captives free. A Spirit-filled life consists in fulfilling such a mission.

In the Matthean account of the baptism, “the heavens are opened” and Jesus sees God’s Spirit descending on him “like a dove”. While the image of the heavens opening presents an outmoded three-tiered understanding of the structure of the cosmos, we might nonetheless appreciate the sense it evokes of the all-encompassing cosmic nature of this commissioning event. God’s words are addressed to all who listen to the gospel: “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus’ mission is to be understood in terms of “righteousness” or right relationship. Jesus’ insistence that John baptise him despite John’s reluctance points to the reversal of values that will characterise his mission. There is no pursuit of status or personal aggrandizement in a gospel way of life. Right relationship lies rather in respecting as God’s creation the entire Earth community, in bringing forth justice and setting the captives free. Each one of us can make a difference to the “ordinary time” of those with whom we share life on this planet. The image of “the heavens” opening might serve as a reminder of the destructive effects of human-introduced space debris and of our responsibility to promote global legislation that might inhibit further devastation of this kind.

 

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This is an important feast from a number of perspectives. It follows closely after our celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas. Of course, from the perspective of the Church it marks the official end of the Christmas season.

More important, however, is the reminder of the significance and importance of Baptism. Our Baptism is more important than almost any other event in our lives. Yet, many do not know the date of their Baptism, and very few actually celebrate that date, although we should.

We are also quite likely with the term our “Baptismal call.” This is a call to how we should live our lives; it is a call to stewardship. The Catechism reminds us that “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit.” The Catechism continues to say “Baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift.”

So what exactly is our Baptismal Call? We are called to live our lives in imitation of Christ. It can be summarized, as it was by Jesus Himself, quite simply. We are called to “Love one another.” There are three things which bind us together as Catholics — this love; the Eucharist; and our Baptism. Living lives of stewardship is one way that we carry out this Baptismal call — this call to love.

Copyright © 2014 www.TheCatholicSteward.com

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly seated and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, “Hi there”. He pounded his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin as he wriggled and giggled with merriment. I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy and whose toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard, and his nose was so varicose that it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. “Hi there baby; Hi there big boy. I see ya, buster.” the man said to Erik. My husband and I exchanged looks. “What do we do?” Erik continued to laugh and answer, “Hi, hi there”. Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us as and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby.
Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, “Do ya know patty cake? Do ya know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo.” Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence but not Erik, who was running through the repertoire for the admiring skidrow bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.
We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the bill and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. “Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik.” I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back, trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching both arms in a baby’s pick-me-up position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms into the man’s. Suddenly, a very smelly old man and a baby expressed their love and kinship. Erik, in an act of total trust, love and submission, laid his tiny head upon the man’s ragged shoulder. The man’s eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard labour, cradled my baby. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, “You take care of this baby.” Somehow I managed, “I will”, from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik’s from his chest lovingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, “God bless you ma’am; you’ve given me my Christmas gift.” I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly and why I was saying, “My God,
My God forgive me.” I had just witnessed Christ’s love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgement. The child saw a soul, and his mother saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt is was God asking, “Are you willing to share your son for a moment?” when He shared His for all eternity. The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3)    …….From Newsletter of St Augustines, Melbourne

Thanks to the generous parishioners who supported the Melbourne Overseas Mission by contributing $1111.85 to aid the work of the missionaries who are helping the disadvantaged.

A major cost of running our Parish is the payment of Insurance on your buildings. Last week, we paid $19179 from our Thanksgiving Offering. This cost is in addition to the insurance on our two schools which is paid separately.

At the Festival of Carols and Readings some women were discussing how to get more people aware of the event for next time, as it was so good, and when it was suggested that it was published on Parish social media, the response was that they never read the Parish website or Facebook. Parishioners also voice this same opinion at Parish gatherings. Nevertheless the parish website during Christmas week had 150 visitors who read 399 pages of parish information, videos, and photos. The Facebook page had 49 visitors in the same timeframe. 33 people have Facebook set to send them a message on their phone when anything new is posted. 21% of Facebook visitors are women aged 18-34 and astonishingly another 21% are women aged over 55. The next step in promoting Parish communication could be to get more parishioners to comment on events and direction in the Parish by leaving remarks, comments, or opinions on the website and make it a two way pipeline for information. You can use a non-de-plume which will be visible to all, and an email address which will not be visible. The website was initially setup so any parishioners who were not at our Parish Mass could still get a copy of the newsletter and see what’s going on in the Parish. We also hoped to get feedback on the Parish but that still needs parishioners to take up the opportunities available.