AUGUSTINIAN BULLETIN BOARD - for September 2011

Inwardly, we are all hearers.

You are hearers of the word, we its preachers. Inwardly though, where nobody can see us, we are all hearers; inwardly in the heart, in the mind, where he is teaching you, who prompts you to applaud.

I, you see, am speaking outwardly, he is arousing you inwardly. So we are all hearers inwardly, and all of us, both outwardly and inwardly in the sight of God, ought to be doers.

How can we be doers inwardly? Because whoever looks at a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart. He can even be an adulterer where no human eye can see, but God can certainly punish. So who is the doer inwardly? The one who does not look lustfully. Who is the doer outwardly? Break your bread to the hungry. When you do that, your neighbour too can see it; But what spirit you do it in, only God can see.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, not God, not the one who’s preaching. I, after all, or anyone else who preaches the word to you, can’t see your hearts; what you are doing inside, in your thoughts, we can’t see. Man cannot do it, but God is looking, since the human heart cannot be concealed from him. He can see with what eagerness you listen, what you think, what you grasp, how much you profit from what he supplies you with, how urgently you pray, how you beg God for what you don’t have, how you thank him for what you have; he knows all this, because he is going to demand his due.

St Augustine: Sermon 179, 7...

Sydney Alliance

A group called Sydney Alliance was founded on 15th September 2011, in an effort to co-ordinate initiatives for the betterment of all people within the greater Sydney metropolitan area.

It has gained support from church leaders (including Archbishop Pell and the Diocese of Parramatta), and is being advertised by various social justice organizations.

A report of its “launch” in the Sydney Town Hall on 15th September 2011 was sent to the Augustinian Provincial, Fr Tony Banks O.S.A. It can be read by clicking here.

The report was prepared by Amanda Tattersall, Director of Sydney Alliance. The web site of Sydney Alliance is www.sydneyalliance.org.au or go to
twitter.com/sydneyalliance

WYD and Youth Animators Congress 2011

Twenty-three Australian young adults, accompanied by two Augustinian priests, made a pilgrimage in August to Augustinian centres in Italy and Spain, and then participated in World Youth Day in Madrid.

Afterwards, fourteen of the young adults remained for the Augustinian International Youth Animators Congress, which was held at the University Maria Cristina adjacent to the El Escorial palace monastery on the outskirts of Madrid. The congress (photo at right) attracted seventy participants from three continents. The Australian Provincial, Fr Tony Banks O.S.A., was one of the planners and presenters.

More information and a video clip can be viewed on the Augustinian international web site, http://www.augustinians.net

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 1,200 male students in the upper primary and secondary years of education. It began at Whinstanes on 25th January 1948, and in 1954 moved to Coorparoo, on the southern side of the Brisbane River.

Staff and students assembled for a whole school Eucharist for the Feast of St Augustine 2011. As the College anticipates occupancy of its new Senior School and Staff buildings, the theme of the Mass was 'Building the City of God."

The present construction work consists of a new block of twelve classrooms and study centre for Senior School students, a new staff centre, new playground spaces for Junior School students, along with the relocation and refurbishment of existing spaces to create a new tuckshop, new visual, performing & practical arts precinct, new classrooms for Junior & Middle School students, new Junior School reception & administration and a new ICT hub.

This largest building project in the history of the College has been under way at Villanova since early November 2010.

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

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 has three communities, located at Incheon, Kanghwa Island and Yeon-Chon (north of Seoul).

Two Koreans, Matteo Cho O.S.A. and Francisco Park O.S.A., took Solemn Vows at the Augustinian Centre, Incheon, South Korea on Saturday, 25th June 2011.

On 31st August 2011 another young man became a postulant in the St Nicholas initial formation community at Kanghwa Island, when a ceremony of admission was conducted (see photo at left).

His name is Francisco, and he is twenty-six years of age and a university graduate.

As of 1st September 2011 there are nine students at various stages of initial formation within the Augustinian Delegation of Korea. Two are clerical students in solemn vows (see photo above), two are clerical students in simple vows, and five are postulants (one of whom is completing his second year of military training in the Navy). All the students are attending the local Incheon Catholic University.

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

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 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.

The Mareeba Parish celebrated its centenary on the weekend of 11th-12th June 2011.

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

MAREEBA CENTENARY BOOK

The first one hundred years of the parish of St Thomas of Villanova, Mareeba, has been penned into book form by parishioner, Jeanette Hartley. The title of the book, “Where the Pelican Builds,” pays tribute to the Irish Augustinians who travelled so far from their homeland in Ireland to carve out what would become a diocese in Far North Queensland, with Mareeba being part of that diocese.

The book's title links with Saint Thomas of Villanova himself, who featured a pelican on his episcopal coat of arms.

The book has 211 pages, and is filled with anecdotes of the parish of Mareeba, profiles of all the priests who have ministered there in one hundred years, details of the three churches, the work of the Sisters of Mercy, the many (and changing) committees and societies throughout the years and the celebrations, both religious and secular.

It was written as a three-way tribute to the Augustinians, the Sisters of Mercy and the parishioners.

Interspersed with many photos and naming well-known and hardworking families of the one hundred years, the book is proving to be popular with its readers.

To obtain a copy
..........Available at St Thomas’s Priory, P.O. Box 308, Mareeba, Qld 4880.
..........For mail orders, please calculate the cost of the book ($25.00) plus postage:
..........Posting Australia wide: $3.50. Posting overseas by airmail: $25.00
..........Cheques should be made out to St Thomas’s Catholic Church.

Augustinian Centre for Spirituality, Sydney

A small oasis of quiet and hospitality in western suburban Sydney, Australia, the Augustinian Centre for Spirituality at 2 Hewitt Avenue, Greystanes NSW 2145 assists persons and groups of all faith backgrounds in their spiritual journey.

Some members of its Augustinian community offer spiritual direction, reflection days, courses in prayer and meditation, and individual residential directed retreats.

A Prayer Day is being offered by Fr John McCall O.S.A. from 9.45 am to 2.30 pm on Thursday, 29th September 2011, entitled Praying with the Holy Spirit. BYO lunch, but refreshments are provided. The cost is $15.00, concessions available. For further information or for bookings, phone (02) 9896 6794 or e-mail osaspirit@bigpond.com.au

Two members of the Augustinian community at the Augustinian Centre for Spirituality, Fr Paul Maloney and Br Paul Skippen, are offering Christ in Me Arise from 7.30 pm on Friday evening, 28th October until 4.00 pm on Sunday, 30th October 2011.

It will be a weekend of music and song designed for Catholic musicians, singers, school liturgy teams and music groups preparing liturgy for youth and for young families.

It will explore the elements of preparing liturgy, and offers resources and networking for persons in the roles and categories mentioned above.

To see the poster (above) in a larger size, click here. It gives details of the venue, costs and the booking procedures necessary. Already enquiries and bookings have been received from as far afield as Brisbane and Adelaide.

More generally, to read the full program of the Augustinian Centre for 2011, click here.

For bookings for Christ in Me Arise, or for general information about the Centre, please phone (02) 9896 6794, or e-mail osaspirit@bigpond.com.au

St Augustine's College is an Augustinian day school for approximately 1,100 male pupils in the upper primary and secondary years of education. Founded in 1956, it is located at Brookvale (Sydney), Australia.

In the past month there have been Masses at the College for the Feast of the Assumption, the Feast of St Augustine, and the annual Father's Day Mass. The Feast of St Augustine is commemorated annually as Patron's Day.

Priests from Augustinian community at Brookvale assisted with these Masses, as they also do throughout the school year at Wednesday morning Mass if the College Chaplain, Fr S. Ward O.S.A. of the Manly Vale community, is not available. The 8.15 am Wednesday Mass in the College Chapel is also attended by Augustinian students in initial formation as brothers and future priests in the Order of St Augustine.

(Photo: Fr Hoang O.S.A. from Brookvale at the Mass for the feast of the Assumption.)

..

The College's web site is www.saintaug.nsw.edu.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 vision statement of St Joseph’s Parish calls for the parish “To be a vibrant and welcoming Church community of mutual care and support sustained by the Gospel."

It continues, "As an expression of our social concern, we walk with people who are marginalised and alienated – our faith in action. We are responsive to, and engaged with, the needs and issues of our times.”

With this vision to the fore, a revised Pastoral Plan was adopted earlier this year.

Its section headings are: Liturgy/Worship, Community, Outreach/Service, Witness/Evangelization, Pastoral Structures/Leadership, Communication/Promotion, Property/Finance/Administration, Faith Development & Enrichment, and Pastoral Care.

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

Augustinian Parish, 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 in the northern beaches area of Sydney, Australia's largest city.

The Augustinians began their pastoral leadership at Manly Vale in 1952 and at Balgowlah in 2004. (At right: St Cecilia's Church, Balgowlah.)

The parish website, now extensively renovated, has received many plaudits. A new feature is the addition of video clips.

The most recent inclusion in that regard is a four-minute presentation on Celebrate Sunday, which centres on the 6.00 pm Sunday Mass at St Kieran's Church, Manly Vale.
Go to http://www.vimeo.com/15978171

On the last weekend in August, parishioners had the opportunity to hear a Parish Council member speak on the nominations for the new Pastoral Parish Council membership. Nominations closed on 4th September 2011.

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 has undertaken a series of renovations. In the church (photo at left) a leadlight window has been repaired. The centenary of the parish in a few years' time is an incentive for the renovations.

In the parish centre adjacent to the church, the telephone system has been upgraded. The same parish telephone number has, however, been retained.

Fifteen additional new volunteers have been trained to visit the sick, and to offer them Communion.

The priests of the parish offer these people for anointing each month.

You can view the parish web site: http://www.stjames-coorparoo.org.au/

Augustinian Parish, St Clair

Holy Spirit Parish at St Clair in western Sydney, Australia, was established in 1981, and has been administered by the Order of Saint Augustine since 1995.

In recent Sundays, the Parish celebrated Caritas and World Mission Day, and raised $2,994.45 for Caritas and $3,695.80 for World Mission Day.

The parish offers the program called RCIA - the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, which is a rite of passage leading to full membership in the Catholic Church.

Those who undertake the RCIA program take a path that leads to full reception into the Church at Easter 2012. Contact the parish for more details.

Further details about parish life appear on the web site of Holy Spirit Parish: http://www.holyspiritstclair.com.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.

The Augustinian Formation Association (AFA) will hold its Annual Lunch and Dutch Auction at the Manly Vale Parish Centre on Sunday, 11th September 2011 starting with Mass at 12.30 pm. Please come and join the Augustinian priests and the Augustinian students.

To obtain more details about the Augustinian Formation Association generally, contact the staff of the Provincial Office at Brookvale on (02) 9938 0200 during office hours.


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 four Lay Congresses: in Echuca in 2001, in Brookvale (Sydney) in 2004, in South Yarra (Melbourne) in 2007, and in Coorparoo (Brisbane) in 2010.

An 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 most recent annual meeting took place there on 17th-19th September 2010.

These meetings approved a parish programme for the Easter period developed by the Augustinian Spirituality Team. Local Augustinian groups have offered to run the programme in Augustinian parishes. It is particularly suitable for those who have just completed the RCIA program.

The leader of the Augustinian Friends for 2011 is Sylvia Phillips, 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 2011

Horn of Africa Famine Appeal: We encourage you to donate online to Cartias Australia. Go to www.caritas.org.au 

In February 2008, Augustinian Volunteers Australia was launched with a group of five part-time co-workers. These three women and two men offered their assistance to Church ministries in the poorer suburbs of Western Sydney. This was subsequent to a formation course which included an immersion experience in that same region of Sydney.

.............................................Report of July 2011.

Augustinian Volunteers Australia provides supervised placements for those who complete the three week course in Justice & Peace at the Augustinian Administration Centre, Brookvale, each February. In 2011, ten completed this Formation Course (see photo below) and were inducted as Augustinian Volunteers by early March. Since then three new Volunteers have been operating in Brisbane and six in Sydney and one has been studying. Adding to the two in Queensland continuing from last year, this has meant a total of eleven Volunteers currently in service out of a possible thirteen at the end of the Course.

Augustinian Volunteers work in edge ministries in close proximity to Augustinian Parishes. In Sydney this has meant service occurs at Redfern in the city, supported from the Augustinians at Brookvale; and at Western Sydney supported from the Augustinians at St Clair Parish and at the Augustinian Spirituality Centre at Greystanes. In Brisbane, Volunteer sites are spread across the city with the Augustinians at Coorparoo being the focus of Volunteer community and support.

Redfern is a particularly challenging site for Volunteer service since it occurs this year at De Porres House, run by the Cana Community. De Porres House accommodates people from the streets as well as those recently rehabilitated from prison. Our volunteers, Catherine and Dom along with Sarah their mentor, have joined with those of Cana in providing meals, Eucharist and conversation on two days per week. Augustinian Novices work a third evening in the same residence to provide cleaning assistance and a meal.

In Western Sydney, Sarah volunteers at Mamre Homestead, a venue providing employment opportunities and services for refugees. Sarah’s work is with Sudanese children in the Mamre crèche. In another operation in the West, two of our Volunteers, Patrice and Theresa, have been volunteering in the Tongan Homework Centre in Mt Druitt, providing assistance to young people struggling to complete homework in a language that may be their second or third major language, or at least at odds with the language spoken at home.

Brisbane Volunteers have taken longer than their Sydney counterparts to be suitably located and to commence service. The Brisbane floods earlier this year have had a continuing effect on the work of welfare organizations and support services in Brisbane, largely because of the disruption to the extensive tracking systems required by the State Government.

Liz is working well at her venue with Micah services in South Brisbane and is also a significant member of the Coorparoo Parish Justice and Peace Committee. Arya and Anjali are both at present completing first Semester science exams, but will return to volunteering in early July, one with St Vincent de Paul refugee services operating also from South Brisbane and the other in Reconnect community development services based in Nundah.

This vibrant group of Volunteers has already met twice in six weekly Community Gatherings. It has been keen to consolidate the work of the Augustinian Volunteers in Australia. With so many Volunteers commencing across the two Eastern cities, and with new Augustinian ministries promised connection to the Volunteer movement next year in Melbourne and Mareeba (Far North Queensland), there is hope for significant growth in the Augustinian Volunteer movement through 2011 and 2012.

Mr Paul Wilson, who is employed full-time as the Justice and Peace Officer of the Australian Augustinians, said, “Augustinian Volunteers situate themselves at the most needy places in our society. They come to this program looking to help others, but soon learn that their own transformation is tied up in the change they are seeking for our world. Much reflection is needed by the Volunteers to understand all that happens during their service. Hence the emphasis on the spiritual as much as on the social dimension of Volunteering. The social and spiritual form one process.”

A young man named Tada, who has volunteered with Augustinian Volunteers over the past three years, is about to return to his home in Thailand. A final text message from him is indicative of what the Volunteers have meant to him, “Sorry I couldn’t be at your Volunteer gathering. I will go back to Thailand next month on the 24th.  Hope to see you before I leave here. Thank you for the many opportunities provided for me by the Volunteers.”

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

For further information go to http://www.aymaustralia.org.au/ministries/augustinian-volunteers

Contact:

Mr Paul Wilson, Justice and Peace 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 2011

• St Augustine’s College – Brookvale Sydney NSW Australia
  Website: www.saintaug.nsw.edu.au
  
• St James’ Parish – Coorparoo Qld Australia
  Website: http://www.stjames-coorparoo.org.au/
  
• Villanova College – Coorparoo Brisbane Qld Australia
  Website: www.vnc.qld.edu.au
  
• St Thomas of Villanova Parish – Mareeba Qld Australia
  Website: http://www.stthomass.com.au
  
• Parish of North Harbour – Manly Vale & Balgowlah, NSW Australia
  Website: http://www.northharbourcatholic.org.au
  
• St Joseph’s Parish – South Yarra Vic Australia
  Website: http://www.parishofsouthyarra.org.au
  
• 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/home.asp

AUGUSTINIAN CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY PROGRAM 2011
2 Hewitt Avenue
Greystanes 2145
Enquiries (02) 9896 6794
www.augustinians.org.au/communities/greystanes.html