o `
HomeAUGUSTINE, AUGUSTINIAN SPIRITUALITY & TRADITION
-

 

AUGUSTINIAN BULLETIN BOARD - for July 2010

The Heavenly Bank

.A good man deposits in the heavenly bank all the works of mercy he does for the people he helps, and he knows that the one who keeps his deposit safe is the faithful and reliable guardian. He doesn’t see it, but he is certain of his account, because nothing can be pilfered from it by a thief, or seized by an invading enemy, or taken away from him as though he were being evicted by a rival or bully or strong man, but it will always be waiting for him because it is being kept for him by the mightiest lord of all.

If people entrust money to a faithful servant and are easy about it, will they entrust their kindnesses to a mighty lord, and be anxious about them? So they know that whatever they deposit is all being kept safe there. Those who are trustworthy put their trust in the power of their lord. They trust him to keep their deposit, and they find what he keeps for them. After all, even people who deposit money don’t see the vault, do they, or the money in the vault? They keep on saving and depositing it, or else they dig a hole and keep it there.

They don’t see it, and yet they have a kind of easy conscience about it because they know it’s there in the place they put it. And perhaps a thief has already taken it, and the fellow rejoices in vain who vainly saved it up. But if we deposit anything in the heavenly bank we can be absolutely sure about the Lord keeping it safe, and we are not the victims of any thief at all, nor do we sustain any loss.

................................................................ St Augustine: Sermon 18, 3

Ordination to the Priesthood

Rev Minh-Tan Hoang O.S.A. was ordained to the priesthood in Sydney, Australia on 4th June 2010. The ceremony, conducted by Most Rev David Walker D.D. (Bishop of Broken Bay), took place in the commodious Brimson Centre at St Augustine’s College, Brookvale (Sydney) in the presence of a large congregation.

The new priest officiated at Masses of thanksgiving at St Therese Church, Lakemba on Saturday, 5th June, and at St Kieran’s Church, Manly Vale on Sunday, 6th June 2010. At all three ceremonies there were numerous concelebrants, including members of the Order of St Augustine who travelled from Victoria and Queensland for the occasion.

Annual International Course

The annual Augustinian course on the United Nations and the Social Doctrine of the Church will be held for Augustinian delegates of Justice and Peace in August 2010. For the first time it will take place in Australia.

It will be conducted at St Joseph’s Parish in South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia (see photo) from the 25th-28th August 2010. As usual, it will be followed by the annual DPI/NGO Conference, from 30th August to 1st September 2010.

(The Augustinian Order participates in an NGO – a non-government organization – that is registered at the United Nations). The leader of the NGO is an Augustinian from Nigeria, Fr Emeka Obiezu O.S.A.

For more information, contact Fr Brian Fitzpatrick O.S.A. (pmo87330@bigpond.net.au).

St Augustine’s College, Sydney

St Augustine's College is an Augustinian day school for over 1,000 male day pupils in the upper primary and secondary years of education. Founded in 1956, it is located at Brookvale (Sydney), Australia.

The school term ended on 25th June, and the weeks leading to that date were filled with examinations, assessments and a number of group activities that took classes away from the College grounds. For example, Year Six had an excursion to Canberra, and Year Five had a Spiritual Reflection Day.

In the Senior School a proposed Italian Study Tour has been announced for April 2011. Of special interest to students of History and Italian, the tour will visit Venica, Verona, Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano and Rome.

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


Villanova College, Coorparoo

Villanova is a college of the Order of Saint Augustine at Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Villanova is a day school of over 1,000 male day 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 in 1954.

The 2010 Finals concert for the annual Wieneke Music Bursary Competition took place on 8th June. The guest adjudicator was Mr Barrie Gott, conductor of the Queensland Pops Orchestra. Winners were selected in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior divisions.

Photo: Hanrahan Theatre, Villanova College.

Additionally in matters musical, the Junior School concert took place on 17th June, and both Villanova Irish Ensembles performed at the fete of St Thomas Catholic Primary School at Camp Hill on 20th June.

Plans are well in hand for the 20th annual QCMF festival of music in August 2010. A special concert to commemorate this anniversary will be held at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Southbank, on 15th August 2010.

The college web site is: http://www.vnc.qld.edu.au

 

Augustinian Parish, Coorparoo

The Parish of St James, Coorparoo (Brisbane) has been in the care of the Augustinians since 1952. Villanova College, also conducted by the Order, is located within the parish.

The parish church of St James was the venue for a Mass of Thanksgiving in Brisbane (see photo above) by the newly-ordained Fr Minh-Tan Hoang O.S.A.. This Mass took place on Sunday, 20th June 2010. A series of photographs of the event are posted on the parish web site (see next paragraph.)

For further information about the parish and its activities contact the parish office at (07) 3397 1671 during office hours, or view the parish web site: http://www.stjames-coorparoo.org.au/

 

St Thomas of Villanova Parish, Mareeba

The Parish of St Thomas of Villanova in Mareeba has been staffed by the Order of Saint Augustine since it began almost a century ago. Mareeba is located on the tableland behind the tropical tourist city of Cairns, in northern Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Diocese of Cairns.

On Saturday 24th April 2010 Fr Robert Greenup and Deacon Ralph Madigan were invited guests at the 40th anniversary celebration of the opening of the Mareeba Mosque.

Muslims first began to arrive in the Mareeba area from the Balkans as early as 1885, but most arrived between 1920 and 1940. The Mareeba Mosque, opened in 1970, was the second mosque to be built in Queensland, and the first one outside of Brisbane.

In the above photo, from left to right, are: Imam Eljam Bardi from Shepparton, Imam Abdul Aziz from Cairns, Imam Ismail Hyka from Dandenong, Fr Robert Greenup, Deacon Ralph Madigan, and Imam Binyamin Murat from Mareeba.


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.

Recent issues of the parish Sunday bulletin have described segments of the life of Mary MacKillop, who later in 2010 will be canonized as Australia's first saint.

Mary MacKillop was only twenty-four years of age when she co-founded the Josephite Sisters. It was the youthful energy and idealism of Mary MacKillop, Archbishop Polding, Caroline Chisholm and others who in the nineteenth century established Australia's first real Catholic Church community.

The web site of Holy Spirit Parish is located on the Internet at http://www.holyspiritstclair.com.au


Fourth Australian Augustinian Lay Congress

Participants at the 4th Augustinian National Lay Congress will ponder the Christian call to spirituality in the 21st century. The Congress is being held at Villanova College in Coorparoo (Brisbane) on Friday (all day) to Sunday (half day) 2nd-4th July 2010.

A report of this event will be included here in the August news page of this website.


Augustinians in South Korea

The Order of Saint Augustine first went to South Korea in 1985, and two Australian Augustinians were in the group of four priests initially sent there. The Order in Korea accepted its first Korean-born candidates in 1990, and still regards the task of training its Korean-born Augustinians as a primary ministry.

The Augustinian Delegation of Korea now staffs three communities, located at Incheon, Kanghwa Island and Yeon-Chon (north of Seoul).

The Augustinian Delegation has nine Koreans in solemn vows (five priests and four lay brothers), three in simple vows, one novice and two postulants. There are also three expatriate Augustinian priests, two from the Cebu Province (Philippines) and one from Australia.

In September 2010 the Delegation looks forward to its twenty-fifth anniversary.

For a summary elsewhere on this web site of Augustinian involvement in South Korea since the Order's arrival there in 1985, click here.

For news on this web site about the Augustinians in Korea and in other areas of the Asia-Pacific, click here.


Augustinian Parish of North Harbour, Sydney

The Catholic Community of North Harbour in the Diocese of Broken Bay is the union, which happened on 1st July 2006, of the two previous adjacent Augustinian-administered parishes of Manly Vale and Balgowlah, which are located in the northern beaches area of Sydney.

The Augustinians began their pastoral leadership in Manly Vale in 1952 and at Balgowlah in 2004.

A weekend "away" retreat for many of the seventy-eight North Harbour staff, liturgical ministers, music ministers, parish interns and children's liturgy leaders took place on 1st-2nd May 2010 at Mittagong (see photo at left).

The organisers, who were parish members, named the weekend “Ignite”.

A number of suggestions made at the Ignite weekend have already been implemented, including steps to reintroduce Children's Liturgy at Sr Cecilia's Church, and plans to conduct a monthly "Open Mic" night to allow the further development of musical and vocal talent within the parish.

On 24th May the twenty-fifth anniversary of the branch of the Catholic Women's League at Manly Vale was celebrated with a special Mass. A luncheon for seventy members and invited guest speakers took place in the Parish Centre afterwards.

The new parish web site has been launched. It is to be found at
http://www.northharbourcatholic.org.au


St Joseph's 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 of St Augustine has ministered in the parish since 1976.

The parish has announced the recent completion of two new crisis shelters (see photo at left) in a vacant building at 54 Fitzgerald Street, towards the edge of the parish property.

This project was made possible by the supervision and generous support of the St Joseph's Emergency Housing Association.

The Association was supported by other donors - the Victorian State Government, the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, the Sisters of Charity Foundation, the untiring efforts of many volunteers and fundraisers, and the interest and support of many other bodies and individuals in the community.

The premises were blessed and opened on Sunday, 2nd May 2010 at 11.30 am.

The South Yarra parish website is: http://www.parishofsouthyarra.org.au



Augustinian Centre for Spirituality

A small oasis of quiet and hospitality in western suburban Sydney, Australia, the Augustinian Centre for Spirituality at Greystanes (photo below) assists persons and groups of all faith backgrounds in their spiritual journey.

Its resident Augustinian community offers spiritual direction, reflection days, courses in prayer and meditation, and individual residential directed retreats.

The 2010 program of prayer days and courses is available on this web site: click here.

For more information on the Centre, please phone (02) 9896 6749, or e-mail osaspirit@bigpond.com.au


Youth Leaders

The Australian Augustinian Province conducts a national six-day Augustinian youth festival every two or three years, and takes a group of participants to each triennial six-day Augustinian international youth encounter.

The previous international encounter was held in Sydney after World Youth Day in July 2008.

The next six-day Augustinian international youth encounter (see logo at right) will occur in London in September 2010.

Further information about the London event is available on the London AYE web site www.aye10.org.

The web site of the Australian Augustinian Youth Movement is:
http://www.aymaustralia.org.au

To learn more about the Australian group for AYE 2010 London, contact the Augustinian Youth Officer at michael.delacruz@augustinians.org.au


Augustinian Formation Association (A.F.A.)

The Augustinian Formation Association prays for and raises funds for the formation of current Augustinian candidates and for future Augustinians.

It has now fulfilled this role for a number of decades.

Based in Sydney, Australia, its current office bearers are Trudi McFadden (president), Eddie Robinson (treasurer), Lesley Sing (assistant treasurer) and Yvonne Clark (secretary).

The AFA is hoping to expand its membership, especially seeing that the number of Augustinian students in formation is increasing, meaning that additional support would be very timely.

To obtain more details about the Augustinian Formation Association, contact the staff of the Provincial Office on (w) (02) 9905 3049.


Augustinian Friends

Augustinian Friends is a lay group conducted in Australia for those wishing to learn more about the spirituality of Saint Augustine of Hippo, 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 Friends' newsletter, Amici, has now reached its tenth anniversary, and much has happened within Augustinian Friends during this decade. For example, there have been three Lay Congresses: in Echuca in 2001, Sydney (Brookvale) in 2004, and in Melbourne (South Yarra) in 2007.

The annual meeting of the National Committee of Augustinian Friends took place at the Augustinian Centre for Spirituality at Greystanes (Sydney) on the weekend of 6th-8th November 2009 (see photo below).

The meeting also approved a parish programme for the Easter period developed by the Augustinian Spirituality Team. Local Augustinian groups will offer to run the programme in Augustinian parishes. It is particularly suitable for those who have just completed the RCIA programme

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

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

For an Amici 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.

For additional information about Augustinian Friends on this web site, click here.


Augustinian Volunteers Australia 2010

The Augustinian Justice and Peace Course, which is used as part of the formation program for Augustinian Volunteers Australia, was conducted at Augustinian Priory, Brookvale (Sydney) during the three weeks from 1st – 20th February 2010.

There were six candidates for Augustinian Volunteers Australia 2010. Two came from Brisbane, and the four from the Sydney region are from the Augustinian Parishes of St Clair (Parramatta Diocese) and North Harbour (Broken Bay Diocese). 

More details about Augustinian Volunteers Australia are available on the social justice section of this web site.

Contact:

Mr Paul Wilson, Justice and Peace Project Officer, c/- St Augustine’s Priory,
P.O. Box 679 Brookvale NSW 2100, Australia. Mobile phone: 0438 646 294 Email: paul.wilson@augustinians.org.au Website: www.augustinians.org.au

Augustinian Ministry Websites 2010

FOR SOME CURRENT NEWS ABOUT THE ORDER OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA Click here

The Augustinian international web site is:
http://www.osanet.org/home.asp

AUGUSTINIAN CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY PROGRAM 2010
2 Hewitt Avenue
Greystanes 2145
Enquiries (02) 9896 6794
www.augustinians.org.au/communities/greystanes.html

 

 

  
  top  
   
Spirituality & Tradition Current News
The Augustinians Becoming An Augustinian
Communities & Ministries Welcome
Lay Groups Links