This Christmas, give the gift of education
December 5, 2024
Timor-Leste may be one of our closest neighbours but for many of its children, schooling – something that is taken for granted by most Australian children – remains a distant dream. Sadly, nearly 42% of Timor-Leste’s population lives below the poverty line, and children miss out on vital opportunities for learning.[i]
Saint Mary MacKillop was a pioneer of schooling for the most marginalised children – just like Juliana. Juliana lives only one hour from Australia, and yet her world couldn’t be more different from ours. She’s the youngest of five siblings living in a remote farming community in Timor-Leste. Her family regularly goes without food so there’s money for her to go to school instead.
Children like Juliana know only too well that school is a way to break the cycle of poverty and create a brighter future for their families. But while Timor-Leste is making astonishing progress at rebuilding itself to become a strong and stable nation – after gaining its independence 25 years ago – there are still many challenges, especially when it comes to providing quality education for its young people.
Feast of St Francis Xavier
December 2, 2024
Sr Virginia shares a reflection for the feast of St Francis Xavier, 3 December, missioner in Asia and formerly patron of Australia.
I first ‘met’ Francis the day I entered religious life in 1963 and received the religious name ‘Xavier’. It was the day Paul VI became Pope. Soon after, the local parish priest loaned me a life of Saint Francis Xavier by James Brodrick SJ. Because it held the saint’s missionary letters, he told me it would be good for me.
Hugo’s Starting to Thrive
For the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December), St Anthony’s Family Care* shares a reflection by Anna on the difference Figtree Early Learning Centre is making for her son Hugo.
Our St Anthony’s Family Care journey has just begun, but already it has become a beacon of support and warmth for our son Hugo. The community has embraced us wholeheartedly, providing a nurturing environment that we know is perfect for Hugo. It’s been a life changer for our family.
An Advent Reflection for Year C
November 29, 2024
These are the opening words from Paul in the second reading for this First Sunday of Advent in Year C (1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2).
It seems that here, Paul is suggesting that being human is more a verb than a noun, more a human becoming than a finished product. Perhaps it would be most accurate to add the word ‘yet’ to all assessments of ourselves and each other.
The Call to Get Our Hands Dirty
November 22, 2024
The 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality has concluded. Since Pope Francis convoked this Synod, it has been different from the other 20 plus Synods since the Second Vatican Council. The framework, timeline and strong emphasis on consultation marked the Synod on Synodality as an emerging way of being Church.
This Synod unfolded in stages across three years and consulted not just a small group of hand-picked ‘experts’ but all those interested in sharing their prayerful consideration of the question:
A synodal Church, in announcing the Gospel, “journeys together”: How is this “journeying together” happening today in your local Church? What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our “journeying together”?
Blinded By Our Might – Josephites Launch Second Laudato Si’ Conversation Package
November 18, 2024
The Josephite Laudato Si’ Action Plan team presents its second Conversation Package in the five-part URGENT HOPE series.
Titled Blinded By Our Might, this community and educational resource has been developed by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in collaboration with the Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar to spark discussion, inform, and inspire people of hope.
Blinded By Our Might focuses on the recognition that humanity is the most powerful species on the planet. Our species is now regarded as “having turned into highly dangerous beings, capable of threatening the lives of many beings and our own survival” (Pope Francis 2023, para. 28).
Tolerance
November 16, 2024
The International Day for Tolerance is commemorated annually on 16 November.
I don’t tolerate a blowfly in my soup. I don’t tolerate a flat tyre while driving.
If Mrs Kafoops comes along and starts to sound off about a neighbour, I could do more than tolerate that: I could join in the character assassination. However, I could also not tolerate it, and quietly say something good about the person being denigrated, or in other ways let Mrs Kafoops know that I don’t agree.
What I must do, however, is show tolerance to Mrs Kafoops.
Julian Tenison Woods – No Ordinary Man
November 15, 2024
The early years are widely recognised to be the most important years of a child’s life. From all accounts, real love between parents and children was shown in the Tenison Woods family.
As Sr Isabel Hepburn recalls in No Ordinary Man, Julian Tenison Woods ‘mostly remembers himself as very happy in a world very bright without any dull days. All his memories of the earliest stages of life are those of a golden summertime, the horizon bounded by sunlight’. (p. 15) Noting also that the country enchanted Julian. ‘The fields, the trees, the sheep, the cattle were simply delightful to me. I thought the sight of green trees, the blossom of springtime, or the smell of new mown hay were amongst the most enjoyable things in life.“ (p. 14) From this rich foundation, the rest, as is said, is history.