AUGUSTINIAN BULLETIN BOARD – November 2006

Eternal life – the inheritance promised us by Christ

Two parents got us unto death, two parents have gotten us unto life. The parents who got us unto death are Adam and Eve. The parents who have gotten us unto life are Christ and the Church. My own father who begot me was Adam for me, and my own mother was Eve for me.

We were born into this successive lineage of the flesh, by God’s gift, to be sure – this too is the gift of none else but God – and yet, brothers, in what way were we born? Certainly, to die. Ancestors begot themselves descendants.

Did they get themselves descendants with whom they would live forever here below? No, but as bound to pass away they begot children to succeed them. But father God and mother Church do not engender for this end. They engender for eternal life, because they themselves are eternal. And we have eternal life as the inheritance promised us by Christ

St. Augustine: Sermon 22, 10

Augustinian Parish, Mareeba

Mareeba Parish’s annual Aboriginal Culture Mass was held on Sunday, 29th October 2006 at 10.00am in St Thomas’s Church. This annual Mass has been celebrated in Mareeba since 1995.

Mareeba is an Augustinian parish in the Diocese of Cairns, in the tropical northern fifth of the State of Queensland, Australia.

For the Aboriginal Culture Mass, the singing was led by the Cairns-based AICC Singers (Aboriginal and Islanders Catholic Commission).

The parish priest of Mareeba, Fr Rob Greenup O.S.A.(pictured above left ), was the presider. The concelebrants were two visiting Augustinians who formerly served at Mareeba, Frs Rod Cameron O.S.A. and Joseph Walsh O.S.A. A member of the Aboriginal people, the retired Anglican Bishop, Arthur Malcolm from Yarrabah, was a special guest speaker.

After the Mass there was a shared morning tea was on the Reconciliation Lawn beside the church. Everyone is very welcome to share in this special celebration.

St Augustine's College, Brookvale

HELPING ORPHANS IN THE PHILIPPINES

St Augustine's College in Brookvale (Sydney), Australia has a strong connection with the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation who run educational facilities in the Philippines along with an Orphanage in Bulacan, not far from Manila.  Sister Joan O.S.A., a member of the chaplaincy team at Brookvale, is an Augustinian Sister of Our Lady of Consolation.

The Sisters' orphanage (see photo) at Bulacan houses up to 20 children who have come to them in sad circumstances, the underlying theme being poverty. Each year students of St Augustine’s College raise funds to send to the orphanage to help with the day to day running of this important charitable organisation.  The students at the College are keen to make a difference to these children’s lives.

In an Australian household, when a member of a family becomes sick the rest of the family become vulnerable.  We treat the sick with medicine and if necessary keep them away from other people to eliminate transfer of the infection.  At the orphanage they desperately need an infirmary to allow the children to be isolated from their peers and to dramatically reduce cross contamination. 

Diseases can consist of mumps, chicken pox, scabies and mosquito related infections.  The heat can intensify transferring of the infections at a faster rate.

In "The Augustinian Orphanage Project”, the College proposes to build an addition to the orphanage consisting of a simple two room area housing up to eight children, with a separate bathroom area. This would enable staff to quarantine the children until their health has returned.

St Augustine’s College TAS lay teachers Mr Craig Jeffery and Mr Peter Jones have investigated building the new facility at the premises, but due to restrictions on materials, tools and the tropical heat of summer in the Philippines, they plan to build the facility in a prefabricated kit form in Sydney and to ship the kit along with tools and materials over to Manila.

During this pre-Christmas school term, the College is calling on students to support this worthy cause via fundraising projects to help pay for the Aus$30,000 bill to complete this much needed project.  To date the parent and Augustinian community have been very supportive.

In April 2007 it is planned that ten students will accompany the two TAS teachers to Bulacan to assemble the infirmary.  The initial construction will have occurred at the College in Brookvale, Australia.  The prefabrication will then be shipped in a container from the College along with other donated materials. 

The College is also calling on the general public for support, both financially and in materials and transportation.  The following wish list covers construction timber, glass windows, roofing, insulation, air conditioning units, bathroom supplies and construction tools.   The facility also needs to be fitted out with six bunk beds.

If you can help, please contact Craig Jeffery at the College on cjeffery@saintaug.nsw.edu.au or phone (02) 9938 8200. 

Go to http://www.saintaug.nsw.edu.au, and then click on the special pages on the project within the College Life section of the web site. The ‘wish list’ for materials is also available on the College website.

Augustinian Parish, South Yarra

The renovation work nears completion on the former St. Joseph's Primary School building (photo at right) on the Augustinian parish grounds at South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia.

It will reopen as the new St. Joseph's Parish Centre shortly.

Many parish and local community groups are looking forward to this a great deal, as they have been sharing a much smaller space for the last nine months.

For example, the volunteers who staff the Parish food bank are also eagerly awaiting their move to the new Parish Centre building. Their new space incorporates a counter style approach and access to an emergency telephone, which will greatly increase their safety and security.

A large stainless steel pass-through freezer is being installed in the external wall of the food bank to enable those in need to access frozen bread and bakery goods on a 24-hour basis.This freezer has the added benefit that volunteers are able to restock it from inside the Parish Centre, another important security factor.

In addition to this, the food bank will enjoy more storage space. Currently the food bank assists approximately 800 families per year and the demand is constantly on the increase.

The Parish continues to offer pastoral care to the many older and isolated people in our community with two part time pastoral workers kept busy at this.

With a November move in mind, the Parish is planning a grand opening for this new St. Joseph's Parish Centre on Sunday, 3rd December 2006.

Anyone interested in being included in the invitation list can contact South Yarra Parish on 03 9827-4689.

Augustinian Parish, St Clair

All went well at the silver jubilee celebrations late in October 2006 (photos above) to mark the founding in 1981 of Holy Spirit Parish, which is located at Saint Clair in western Sydney (Diocese of Parramatta). The Augustinians resumed responsibility for staffing this parish in 1995.

The ten days of celebration included two weekends. There was a Parish Ball, and Sundays 22nd and 29th October each had a special focus. On the former Sunday there will be a family Mass of Thanksgiving, followed by a parish family picnic. The Bishop of the Diocese of Parramatta, Most Rev Kevin Manning D.D., was present at a Mass on 29th October.

Fr Brian Fitzpatrick O.S.A. (parish moderator) commented, "All went well with the celebrations. It was a fitting celebration to mark this stage of growth of a vibrant Catholic community."

The parish web site is http://www.holyspiritstclair.com.au/

Parish of North Harbour

The creation of the Parish of North Harbour occurred by the union of the parishes of Manly (Saint Kieran’s) and Balgowlah (St Cecilia’s) in metropolitan Sydney in July 2006.

The Order of Saint Augustine is responsible to the Diocese of Broken Bay for the parish's ministry.

The parish begins on part of the northern edge of Sydney Harbour, hence its name. The new parish has retained Saints Kieran (of Clonmacnoise in sixth-century Ireland) and St Cecilia (an early Roman martyr) as its patron saints.

The web site of the new Parish of North Harbour is http://www.northharbour.catholicau.com

St Augustine’s College, Brookvale (Sydney)

(Stock photo)

With the public examination system still in place at the conclusion of secondary education throughout the State of New South Wales, the Augustinian school at Brookvale in Sydney, Saint Augustine’s College, received recognition for the work of three of its graduating Year Twelve students. (The college offers education from Year Five to Year Twelve inclusive.)

In the subject of Industrial Technology, the major projects of these three students (i.e., that which they submitted for the State-wide public Higher School Certificate examination) were chosen for the InTech 2007 display at the Timber and Working with Wood Exhibition at Fox Studios, Sydney, in June 2007.

The College Principal, Mr Tim Cleary, publicly congratulated the students, as well as their teachers.

The St Augustine’s College web site is: Web site: www.saintaug.nsw.edu.au

Augustinian Formation Association (A.F.A.).

The AFA prays for and raises funds for the formation of future Augustinians. Based in Sydney, its office bearers for 2006 are Trudi McFadden (president), Eddie Robinson (treasurer), Lesley Sing (assistant treasurer) and Yvonne Clark (secretary). (Three of the office bearers appear in the above photograph.)

The next event of the AFA will be their end-of-year dinner on the evening of Saturday, 25th November. It will take place at 7.30pm at the Manly-Warringah Master Builders Club, 18 Fisher Road, Dee Why. Bookings are requested by 20th November 2006.

To obtain more details or to make bookings for the dinner, or about the Augustinian Formation Association generally, contact Fr Peter Jones O.S.A. (AFA chaplain) or the staff of the Provincial Office on (w) 02 9905 3049.

Villanova College

With the beginning of the 2007 academic year, Villanova, the Order's college at Coorparoo in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia will take yet another major step in its "three schools - one college" model of administration and governance.

At that time Mr Glenn McConville (pictured) will join the staff as Head of Senior School. He is presently deputy principal of St Brendan's College in Yeppoon.

This follows the appointment of a Head of Middle School and a Head of Junior School during the past two years. Villanova educates male day students from Year Five (upper primary) to Year Twelve (upper secondary) inclusive.

Glenn attended a ceremony at Villanova on a recent Tuesday evening, when the present Year Nine students celebrated their progression to the Senior School. He was delighted to be welcomed into the Villanova community on such a happy occasion.

The three Heads of Schools report to the Rector (Principal) of Villanova, Fr Michael Morahan O.S.A. Villanova began at a temporary site at Whinstanes, north of the Brisbane River, in 1948, and moved to its present location at Coorparoo in 1953.

During the years, seven Augustinians have been Rector (Principal) of Villanova in succession: Fathers Richard B. O'Donnell, John Louis Hanrahan, Kevin Burman, Donal Paul Dempsey, Laurence Mooney, Peter Wieneke and Michael Morahan.

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

Augustinian professions in Korea

On 10th September 2006 in the Augustinian Delegation of Korea, Kyu-Dong Jonah Kim O.S.A. and Chang-Ho Johan Kim O.S.A. made their solemn profession in Korea.

Australian and English Augustinians introduced the Order to Korea twenty years ago, and their two decades of work are now being blessed by a series of solemn professions and priestly ordinations. Two of the locally-born Augustinians in Korea are now priests, and another one is a deacon.

Numerous photos of the Augustinian activities and personnel in Korea are available by going to http://www.augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=6 , and then choose the gallery named Korea.

Third National Augustinian Congress for the Laity, April 2007

Planning for the Third Augustinian Australian National Congress for the Laity is now well advanced.

This Congress, to be held in the parish centre of the Augustinian Parish of South Yarra, Melbourne, runs from Friday 20th April 2007 to Sunday 22nd April 2007.

The keynote speaker will be Fr Art Purcaro O.S.A.. He is from the United States, and is presently stationed in Rome as an Assistant General of the Order.

The title is: Augustine, Ancient & New Vision for the Future. So how about coming to Melbourne in 2007 to experience Augustine in Autumn?!

For further information about the Augustinian lay congress in Melbourne in April 2007, contact Augustinian Friends via the parish office of the Augustinian parish of South Yarra (ph. 03 9827 9117), or contact Fr Paul Maloney O.S.A. at the Centre for Augustinian Spirituality, 2 Hewitt Avenue, Greystanes, NSW 2145 (phone 02 9361 0340) or by e-mail at paulmal@bigpond.com.au

Masters Degree Program in Augustine

A summer program leading to a Master of Arts degree in the study of St Augustine has begun at Quezon City in Metro Manila. The venue is the Saint Augustine Centre of Studies (SACS - see photo below).

The new Masters program was officially launched at the SACS graduation ceremony on 27th March 2006, and the first units of the program were taught from 10th April to 20th May 2006.

The teachers of these units were Fr Arnel Dizon O.S.A. (An Introduction to St Augustine), Fr Pederito Aparece O.S.A. (Augustine and Neo-Platonism), and Dr Macario Ofilada Ph.D. (The Dialogues of Augustine). All units are taught in the English language, and there are choices of topics in every course.

There are choices of outcome available within the program. These give different options such as equipping the student to teach Augustine to others, or else preparing the student for further studies in Augustine at a doctoral level.

For example the option that leads to a Master of Arts in Teaching Augustine studies Augustinian pedagogy, Neo-Platonism, Augustinian metaphysics and Augustine’s theory of knowledge. It then surveys Augustine’s sermons, letters, and major books.

The full program is expected to require three summers of classes by each student, and variously also some comprehensive examinations or the writing of a thesis. Students from overseas or other parts of the Philippines can apply for summer accommodation as SACS, depending on its availability.

The next courses will be offered in April-May 2007. Printed information on the course in general and in particular, plus enrolment details, are available in a brochure that may be obtained by writing to the St Thomas of Villanova Institute of Philosophy, Saint Augustine Center of Studies, Fisheries Street, Visayas Avenue, 1100 Quezon City, Philippines.

For information about the M.A. program, persons in Australia can contact the Augustinian Provincial Office at Brookvale, Sydney by telephoning (02) 9905.3049 during office hours.

Augnet

Augnet, a comprehensive web site on Saint Augustine and the Order of Saint Augustine, has just been redesigned and renovated. It contains over 1,150 pages of text, which also contain over 1,450 illustrations. The Augnet web site was officially "launched" at a ceremony in Sydney in August 2002, with the Prior General 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.

Over 1,800 large images in thirty-one extensive photo galleries illustrate Augustinian events and places internationally. Between August 2002 and April 2006 Augnet has served 63,000 different hosts/URLs, and presumably many of these hosts have visited Augnet more than once.

These hosts have downloaded 734,000 pages of Augnet. This is an average of 17,000 pages per month, 580 pages per day and 24 pages per hour throughout that period of forty-four months.

There were 14,542 separate visits to the site during the calendar month of September 2006, which is an average of almost 500 visitors a day. For the first time, on 19th October 2006 Augnet received 1,000 visitors within twenty-four hours.

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

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AUGUSTINIAN CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY PROGRAM 2006
2 Hewitt Avenue
Greystanes 2145
Enquiries 9896 6794
www.augustinians.org.au/communities/greystanes.html