AUGUSTINIAN BULLETIN BOARD – for DECEMBER 2007

Blessed are those who hear the word of God

The Lord answered and said: Who is my mother? Concentrate your attention more on what Christ the Lord said as he stretched out his hand over his disciples: This is my mother and my brothers; and whoever does the will of my Father who sent me, that person is a brother to me and a sister and a mother.

Didn’t the Virgin Mary do the will of the Father? I mean, she believed by faith, she conceived by faith, she was chosen to be the one from whom salvation in the very midst of the human race would be born for us, she was created by Christ before Christ was created in her. Holy Mary did the will of the Father. And therefore it means more for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than to have been the mother of Christ. It means more for her, an altogether greater blessing, to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been Christ’s mother. That’s why Mary was blessed, because even before she gave him birth, she bore her teacher in her womb.

Just see if it isn’t as I say. While the Lord was passing by, performing divine miracles, with the crowds following him, a woman said, Fortunate is the womb that bore you. And how did the Lord answer, to show that good fortune is not really to be sought in mere family ties. Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. So that’s why Mary too is blessed, because she heard the word of God and kept it. She kept truth safe in her mind even better than she kept flesh safe in her womb.

St Augustine: Sermon 72A,7

Introducing….

Augustinian Volunteers

The Order of St Augustine in Australia, commonly known as Augustinian Fathers and Brothers, is introducing an outreach of lay women and men to the needy places of ministry in Australia and, in the future, in South-East Asia.

If you are interested in hearing about this concept, you are invited to click here to learn more, and to contact the Augustinian Justice and Peace Office at Brookvale, N.S.W., if desired.

Contact:

Paul Wilson, c/- St Augustine’s Priory, P.O. Box 679 Brookvale NSW,  2100

Email: paul.wilson@augustinians.org.au

Website: www.augustinians.org.au

You may also respond by e-mail or on-line as above, or directly to Paul Wilson, Justice and Peace Project Officer  Ph. 0438 646 294.

New Augustinian Assistant General

In the General (International) Council of the Order of Saint Augustine in September 2007, Fr Rommel Par O.S.A. was appointed to represent the needs of the Asia-Pacific region to the Prior General of the Order.

He replaces Fr Eusebio Berdon O.S.A., who recently completed two terms (twelve years) in that position.

Rommel Par was born in the Philippines, and made his first Augustinian profession there in 1988. He studied philosophy and theology in Manila, and then received a doctorate in philosophy from the Universita di San Tommaso (Angelicum) in Rome, while residing at the Augustinians’ Collegio Santa Monica near St Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

In 1996 he was appointed as the director of the St Thomas of Villanova Institute of Philosophy at Quezon City, near Manila, and a member of the Augustinian seminary staff there. Rommel (photo above) was ordained to the priesthood in 1998.

In 2002 and 2003 he was the Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the University of San Agustine in Iloilo City, and in 2003 – 2007 the President and Rector of the Colegio San Agustin at Biñan, not far from Manila. It was while there that his election as an Assistant General occurred at the General Chapter in Rome in September 2007.

The passing to eternal life of Fr. Ralph Cameron O.S.A.

After a brief illness, on Sunday afternoon, 21st October 2007, the death occurred at Manly Hospital of Fr Ralph Raymond Cameron O.S.A. of the Catholic Community of North Harbour.

He was eighty-two years old, and in his fifty-first year of priesthood.

Memorial cards of the late Fr Cameron will be mailed by the Provincial Office upon request. Write to P.O. Box 679, Brookvale NSW 2100, Australia or e-mail osaadmin@bigpond.com

Australian National Augustinian Youth Encounter 2007

The tenth Augustinian National Youth Encounter took place from 7.30 pm Friday 19th October 2007 to noon on Sunday 21st October 2007 at the Collaroy Conference Centre, in the northern beaches area of Sydney.

Read all about it on the November "current news" page in the Archives section of this web site.

Images of this Encounter and its Collaroy venue are available in a photo gallery named “Augustinian International Encounter 2008” at http://www.augnet.org

This Encounter will take place at Collaroy (Sydney, Australia) from the evening of Monday, 21st July to noon on Sunday, 27th July 2008, which is immediately after the conclusion of World Youth Day 2008.

A competition has been announced to compose and select a theme song for this Encounter. Details of the competition appear on the Encounter web site http://www.aye2008.org

The winning song is required to be centred on the Scriptural verse that is the theme of the Encounter, "And all those who believed shared all things in common” (Acts of the Apostles 2:44). It will need to reinforce the ideas of community, diversity, prayer, and of the People of God as being the Body of Christ.

As well, the lyrics and music of the song will need to be able to stir and enthuse young adults at the Encounter in 2008.

Since the competition was announced last month, it has attracted considerable interest in Australia, and already one overseas entry has been received from the Philippines.

Michael Dela Cruz, who attended the meeting of Augustinian Youth Animators in Rome in July 2007, is employed by the Australian Province as the full-time projects officer for World Youth Day (15th – 20th July 2008) and the International Augustinian Encounter (21st-26th July 2008). He has said that the winning song will be prominently used throughout the 2008 Augustinian International Encounter.

The Encounter web site is http://www.aye2008.org and Michael’s e-mail is michael.delacruz@augustinians.org.au

Augustinian Parish, Mareeba

Mareeba is located on the tableland behind the tropical tourist city of Cairns, in northern Queensland.

During the last few months the Mareeba and Dimbulah parishes have been served by a series of Augustinian priests in the absence of Fr Rob Greenup overseas.

As well as two newcomers to Mareeba, Fr Paul Maloney OSA and Fr Peter Jones OSA, successively welcomed back to the area were Augustinians who have been stationed there previously: Fathers Joseph Walsh OSA (above right), Peter McHugh OSA, Abel van der Veer OSA (above left), Peter Hayes OSA and Peter Tangey OSA.

On 28th August 2007 the local group of Augustinian Friends celebrated the feast of St Augustine with Frs Walsh and McHugh. Fr Laurie Mooney OSA served in the Mareeba and Dimbulah for most of the month of November.

St Augustine’s College, Sydney

The graduating Year 12 students from St Augustine’s College celebrated their last day at the College on 27th September 2007. Their day began with an early morning breakfast at the Manly Skiff Club followed by a formal procession through the grounds of the College with the student body cheering them on.

The procession led by a piper with the new student leaders for 2008 intermingled with the outgoing leaders from 2007. At their final school assembly the boys were presented to the school community and received their graduation certificates from the Principal, Mr Tim Cleary.

The evening formalities began with a Mass conducted at St Kieran’s Church in Manly Vale celebrated by Fr Peter Tangey OSA and concelebrated by Fr Peter Wieneke OSA, Fr Peter Jones OSA and Fr Patrick Fahey OSA, followed by the Graduation dinner held back at the College’s spacious Brimson Centre.  

The students experienced many emotions as they realised they had completed their time at school, with many of them having begun at St Augustine’s College in Year 5 at ten and eleven years of age. The outgoing 2007 School Captain and Vice-Captain spoke on behalf of their peers and reflected on their years at the College, the friends they have made, the challenges they have faced and the sense of community that St Augustine’s College had instilled in them.

* * *

Two religious statues were installed and blessed in the Brookvale grounds of St Augustine’s College on 21st November 2007.

The small limestone statue in abstract form of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus was located in the Good Counsel Primary School area (left photo below) and a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was placed in the College’s Memorial Garden (right photo below).

The Principal of St Augustine’s College, Mr Tim Cleary, recently commissioned these statues for the College from the Marble Mountain area in Vietnam. 

The statues were blessed on Wednesday, November 21st  by College Chaplain, Fr Peter Tangey OSA, together with Tim Cleary, Principal, Chris Govers, Assistant Principal, Head of Middle School, Sr Joan Infante OSA, Madeleine Conlon, Head of RE and representatives from the Student Representative Council and Years 5 & 6 students.

The statues were purchased, in part, from the $10,000 kindly donated by St Augustine’s brother school in Queensland, Villanova College in Brisbane.

The College web site is www.saintaug.nsw.edu.au

* The College’s Orphanage Project 2007. A daily blog of the infirmary construction project during April 2007 at the orphanage in Bulacan, Philippines is uploaded on the internet. Go to:
http://augustineorphanageproject.blogspot.com

Augustinian Parish, St Clair.

Holy Spirit Parish at St Clair in western Sydney, Australia, was established twenty-five years ago, and has been administered by the Order of Saint Augustine for the past eleven years.

Holy Spirit Parish hosted the inaugural Justice & Peace Tele/video conference enabling the members of the Parish Social Justice Group to participate in the conference remotely as it was convened at St Augustine's Priory in Brookvale, which is another Sydney suburb forty kilometres away. 

The event was successful on all levels – the technology worked well and the participants were pleased with the exchange of ideas and information.

The Holy Spirit website is located at http://www.holyspiritstclair.com.au

Augustinian Parish, South Yarra

In Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria, the Augustinians have care of the Parish of Saint Joseph, South Yarra. The parish also has a second church, dedicated to St Thomas Aquinas, at Bromby Street, South Yarra. The Order has been present in the parish since 1976.

Since the complete renovation of a former parish school building into the commodious St Joseph's Parish Centre in December 2006, progress has been made on the development of a functioning Parish Library. One of its aims is to expand the parish's connection with the local community.

A progress report in mid-November 2007 detailed the purchase of additional books, the cataloguing of materials already donated, and a listing of additional equipment required.

Opening hours of the library are ad experimentum Sunday 11.30 am to 12.30 pm, Tuesday and Thursday 4.00 pm to 7.00 pm, and possibly 10.00 am to noon as well. The library depends on volunteers to fulfil all necessary tasks.

An official opening of the library will occur in the first months of 2008.

St Joseph’s Parish web site is www.ozemail.com.au/~osasthyarra

Augustinian Parish of North Harbour, Sydney

North Harbour Parish is promoting an initiative for young people to join together on Sunday nights at St Kieran’s Church in Manly Vale. The parish priest, Fr Peter Wieneke OSA and Manly Vale’s Youth Music Minister Ben Marshall (at right in photo) have been speaking to students at St Augustine’s College, which is situated at Brookvale within the North Harbour Parish. Their purpose was to encourage the students to assist in the Sunday evening Parish Mass.

Under this arrangement, the students will prepare the music and various items for the Mass including readings and drama items, participate in the Mass and be engaged after the Mass with a discussion and a light supper.

* * *

The 9.30 am Sunday Mass at Manly Vale on 25th November was attended by Br Salesio Lee O.S.A., who is part of the Augustinian Delegation of Korea. He visited the Augustinians there while in Australia for a ten-day conference sponsored by Caritas Korea.

Salesio made his Augustinian final profession in Korea last year, and his ministry there is assisting with "No-rang Na-rang", which is a household built and sustained by the Augustinian Order in Incheon, Korea.

"No-rang Na-rang" (Korean words for You and I) accommodates eight young males who are either adrift from their families or homeless.

The North Harbour Catholic Community web site is: http://www.northharbour.catholicau.com/

Centre for Augustinian Spirituality

For the past ten years the Centre for Augustinian Spirituality has been in operation at Greystanes, in western metropolitan Sydney, Australia. Four Augustinians live there in community.

A previous retreat program for Augustinians was repeated at the Centre on 8th-10th October 2007, and attracted a dozen local and interstate Augustinians.

Called a Colloquium, this program was first offered in 2005, and is designed to provide a relaxed and fraternal forum whereby the Augustinians can feel supported, and support one another in reflecting on themes that have significance in the personal, communal and ministerial dimensions of our lives. Saint Augustine was presented as a mentor and guide.

The colloquium concluded with an affirmation of each participant by the other members present. Fr Peter Jones O.S.A. (Director), commented, "This was a powerful moment in the days together as was there was a conscious and genuine affirmation of our brothers. The experience both of affirming others and receiving from them was a great experience of our fraternity."

If any group associated with the Order of Saint Augustine and its ministries is interested in a program or retreat by the Centre staff, please contact Fr Peter Jones O.S.A. at Greystanes at (02) 9896-6794 or osaspirit@bigpond.com.au .

Villanova College, Coorparoo

Villanova is an Augustinian day school for approximately 1,000 male students in the upper primary and secondary years of education. It began at a smaller location in Whinstanes (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) on 25th January 1948, and moved to its present site at Coorparoo (Brisbane) in 1954.

Recent issues of weekly Villanova newsletter to parents indicated that the fourth and final term of the 2007 academic year is coming to a busy conclusion. The myriad academic, pastoral and social activities reported in the newsletters include a junior school music celebration on the evening of 15th November, the election of the College's 2008 student leaders and house captains, fundraising for environmental refugees in the Solomon Islands, the Year Nine Transition Ceremony, and various day-long school exscursions.

The Villanova College web site is located at http://www.vnc.qld.edu.au

Augustinian Friends

Augustinian Friends is a lay group conducted in Australia for those wishing to learn more about the Spirituality of Saint Augustine, and to have contact with others who share this goal. Branches of the Friends operate at a number of Augustinian venues in Brisbane, Mareeba, Melbourne, Northern Victoria, and Sydney.

The position of Co-Leaders of the National Committee is presently being shared by Ruth McGowan and Maureen Atkins of northern Victoria, and Fr. Paul Maloney O.S.A. is chaplain of the group.

There was a Friends' gathering at St Kieran's Parish Centre, Manly Vale, Sydney (photo above) on Sunday, 18th November. Father Paul Maloney spoke about the present activities of the Order of Saint Augustine throughout the Asia-Pacific. This was preceded by a Mass, and followed by a meal.

The English and U.S. Augustinians are involved with generally similar Augustinian Friends movements in their respective nations.

In England, “Friends of Augustine” has now begun its own website:
http://www.friendsofaugustine.org In the United States, the web site is http://www.augustinianfriends.org

Amici is the Friends' newsletter. For a newsletter subscription or for any additional information on the Friends, contact Fr Paul Maloney at Greystanes (Sydney) at paulmal@bigpond.com.au or phone him on 02 9631.0340.

Augustinian Formation Association (AFA)

The AFA prays for and raises funds for the formation of future Augustinians. It is based in Sydney. Among its office bearers for 2007 are Trudi McFadden (president), Eddie Robinson (treasurer), Lesley Sing (assistant treasurer) and Yvonne Clark (secretary). Along with two new members, they form the AFA Executive.

The most recent AFA event was a weekend bus outing to Bathurst, NSW, (see photo above), which Fr Laurence Mooney O.S.A. (Director of Formation) and four young men in formation also attended.

The next AFA event will be the annual end-of-year celebration on Saturday evening, 1st December 2007 in the dining room of the Manly-Warringah Master Builders Club, Dee Why. Contact the Parish Centre (office hours) at Manly Vale on 9949 4144 for details.

For more information about the Augustinian Formation Association generally, contact Fr Laurence Mooney O.S.A. (AFA chaplain) or the staff of the Provincial Office on (w) 02 9905 3049.

.Augnet: what's new?!

Augnet, a comprehensive web site on Saint Augustine and the Order of Saint Augustine, was fully redesigned and renovated in May 2006.

It now carries over 1,310 pages of text, which also contain over 1,770 illustrations. The Augnet web site was officially "launched" at a ceremony in Sydney in August 2002, with the Augustinian Prior General from Rome as the guest of honour.

New technical features in the renovated Augnet include a search engine, which searches every page of Augnet for any word or phrase that is nominated by a user, and a site map, which quickly allows a visitor to see and understand the local arrangement of Augnet's sections and sub-sections.

About 2,500 large images in extensive photo galleries illustrate Augustinian events and places internationally. The photo galleries most recently added illustrate Sydney, Australia, and three galleries of Augustinian ministry in India, London (England) and at the Escorial (Spain), and additional images are regularly added to other galleries whenever they become available.

Since May 2006, over 42,416 separate (distinct) visitors have used Augnet at least once, in a total of 253,380 visits (i.e., an average of eight visits each). These persons have made a total of 664,994 Augnet page visits. There was a monthly record of 37, 613 visits to Augnet during July 2007, which is an average of 1,210 visits a day.

On 12th October 2006 Augnet received 1,000 visits within one 24-hour period for the first time. On 9th June 2007 there was a new daily record of 2,314 visits attained.

Because of the international usage of Augnet, the web site has almost an identical usage rate in each of the twenty-four hours of the day, and also equal usage on all days of the week (except for a slight decrease on Saturdays). The average duration per visit is three and one half minutes.

Visit this web site at http://www.augnet.org

Augustinian Ministry Websites 2007

• St Augustine’s College – Brookvale NSW Australia
  Website: www.saintaug.nsw.edu.au

• St James’ Parish – Coorparoo Qld Australia
  Website: http://www.stjames-coorparoo.org.au/

• Villanova College – Coorparoo Qld Australia
  Website: www.vnc.qld.edu.au

• Parish of North Harbour – Manly Vale & Balgowlah, NSW Australia
  Website: http://www.northharbour.catholicau.com

• St Joseph’s Parish – South Yarra Vic Australia
  Website: www.ozemail.com.au/~osasthyarra

• Holy Spirit Parish – St Clair NSW Australia
  Website: www.holyspiritstclair.com.au

• Augustinians in Korea
• Website: http://www.osakorea.or.kr

FOR SOME CURRENT NEWS ABOUT THE ORDER OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA Click here

The Augustinian international web site is: http://www.osanet.org/en/default.htm

AUGUSTINIAN CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY PROGRAM 2007
2 Hewitt Avenue
Greystanes 2145
Enquiries 9896 6794
www.augustinians.org.au/communities/greystanes.html