AUGUSTINIAN BULLETIN BOARD - November 2003

The Reward

Among the great and salutary instructions, the divine and lofty precepts which our Lord gave his disciples, people think this one is very hard, in which he ordered them to love their enemies. It’s a hard precept, but a grand reward. Anyway, notice what he said when he was giving this admonition: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute you. You have heard what the work is; wait for the reward, and see what he will add: that you may be, he says, children of your Father who is in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the good and the bad, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust. We see this happening, we can’t deny it. Has it ever been said to the clouds, “Drop rain on the fields of those who worship me, and keep away from the fields of those who blaspheme me”? Has it ever been said to the sun, “Those who worship me may see you, those who curse me may not see you”? Benefits from the sky, benefits from the earth; the springs bubble up, the fields are fertile, the trees are laden with fruit. The good enjoy these things, the bad enjoy them too; the grateful enjoy them, the ungrateful enjoy them. If he bestows such blessings on good and bad alike, do you suppose he keeps nothing special for the good? He gives to good and bad alike what he gave to the men who stoned Stephen, but it is what he gave Stephen that he keeps for the good.

Sermon 317,1

• LECCETO COMMUNITY 2003
  
  The Augustinians annually invite young people to come together and form a community based around the ideals and the Rule of Life established by St Augustine in the fourth / fifth century. These values are timeless in their application and are good for men and women who want to come together in mutual respect to spend time with others intent upon their God and seeking unity of heart and mind. The community caters for people in the workplace and for those who are taking time off from work for fulltime studies. Using common funds and setting time aside in busy lives for prayer, contemplation and service the community nurtures each other and challenges each one as to their ability to be there for others and for God. Please contact Fr Tony Banks osa who will guide the community in 2004. You will also be supported by the Augustinian sisters and brothers in the Brookvale area. Fr Tony is available on
  Phone (02) 9938 0207 Mobile 0418 200 410
  E-mail tonybanks@augustinians.org.au

Click here for Leccetto Flyer...

• ASSEMBLY 2003
  
  In early October Augustinians in Australia gathered for an assembly to help prepare for next year’s Mid-Chapter. The reflection and discussion was fruitful in that the assembly was able to establish some priorities to guide the Order’s direction over the next few years. To meet without the pressure of making decisions as would happen in the Chapter was a positive experience and as such the assembly represents a constructive step in preparation for the Mid-Chapter
  

• LAUNCHING OF OSAAP

  Recently Fr Pat Fahey (Provincial) attended the inaugural meeting of the Organization of Superiors of Augustinians in the Asia Pacific. This organisation provides a forum for leaders of Augustinian circumscriptions in the Asia Pacific region. There are currently six such regions:

  • Province of Australia
  • Province of Cebu (Philippines)
  • Vicariate of Japan
  • Vicariate of Orient (Spanish Augustinians and some Filipino Augustinians working in the Philippines; India)
  • Delegation of Papua (Indonesia)
  • Delegation of Korea
    
    
• ST AUGUSTINE’S COLLEGE – PILGRIMAGE
  
  During the school holidays a group of 14 pilgrims consisting of staff members and friends of St Augustine’s College travelled to Rome and Tuscany. We visited places of significance to our Catholic and Augustinian heritage. The experience was a very enriching one and we were blessed with the welcome that we received at the various places visited. Some highlights – visit to St Monica’s College the Augustinian house of studies in Rome where we were welcomed by Augustinians from various countries; St Peter’s Square for the weekly Sunday Angelus and blessing by the Pope; St Peter’s Basilica: a tour of the ancient necropolis under the basilica where St Peter’s tomb is believed to be located; the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Counsel at Genazzano; the remains of ancient Ostia where St Monica died as Augustine and his friends were preparing to return to Africa after his conversion; Augustinian churches in Rome – St Maria del Popolo Church where the first General Chapter of the Order took place in 1256 and where in 1837 a young Irish Augustinian priest James Goold was persuaded by another priest to come to Australia being the first Augustinian to do so and St Augustine’s Church where the remains of St Monica are venerated; the general audience with the Pope during which among the announcement of pilgrim groups St Augustine’s College, Brookvale was mentioned; our days staying with the Augustinian community of San Gimignano; visits to Lecceto and other sites nearby where the hermits who were united to form the Augustinian Order in the 13th century dwelt; visits to the Augustinian contemplative sisters in Lecceto and Montefalco; Assisi – the home of St Francis and Siena – the home of St Catherine. I wish to thank all the participants for their contribution to spirit of friendship, prayer and enthusiasm which characterised the pilgrimage. All experienced a deepened appreciation of our belonging to an international Augustinian family and a sense of its history together with a growth in awareness of other aspects of our Catholic and Christian heritage.

Fr Peter Jones osa

• FATHER DAVID BRIMSON
  
  A member of the "eighty-something" generation, Father David is presently being very active in his retirement in southern Brisbane, Queensland. He recently completed his memoirs, entitled A Brim-full of Memories, which the Australian Augustinian Province is publishing privately.
  The autobiography of Fr. David Brimson OSA, founding rector of St. Augustine’s College, Brookvale, NSW., published in May 2003.

“Brim-Full Memories” tells the story of David Brimson’s childhood in Brisbane, his youth during the Second World War, entry and training in the Augustinian Order and his eventful life as a priest.
Now in retirement at Nazareth House, Brisbane, David Brimson has looked back over his long experience of ministry and given us this interesting story in 56 pages, supported by numerous photographs.
Cost is $14 incl. postage in Australia.

Order from Augustinian Press, P.O. Box 679, Brookvale NSW 2100
Email: osaadmin@bigpond.com

• MAREEBA AND DIMBULAH NEWS

  This year’s Altar Servers Picnic is being held on Sunday 16 November following the 10.00 am Mass in St Thomas’s Church. It is being held at the Mareeba Town Swimming Pool and altar servers from St Thomas’s, St Anthony’s and St Christopher’s and their families are all welcome to attend.

  On Saturday night 22 November we will be holding our annual International Celebration at St Thomas’s. The night will begin with the 6.00pm Mass, which will draw on the many cultures, represented in the parish. Afterwards a shared meal of a variety of ethnic foods will be held in the school grounds. Please wear your national dress.

  For further information please contact Teresa Marinelli on 07 4092 2543.

• AUGUSTINIAN COMMUNITY, MAREEBA

  The Augustinians have a long and rich association with the Diocese of Cairns. It began with the arrival of Fr John Hutchinson O.S.A. and his two companions at Cooktown in 1884.

  Subsequently, the Augustinian presence extended to all the existing mainland parishes of the Diocese. Today, however, the Parishes of Mareeba and Dimbulah are the only parishes in the Diocese, which are still served by the Augustinians.

  With this background, St Thomas’s Priory, Mareeba is now offering an opportunity for single men to experience a period of simple community life in the Augustinian tradition with time for prayer, parish work, recreation and personal pursuits.
  

For further information contact:

Robert Greenup O.S.A.
PO Box 308,
Mareeba,
Queensland 4880

Phone: 07 4092 1077
Fax: 07 4092 3170
Email: stthomas@ledanet.com.au

AUGUSTINIAN CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY PROGRAM 2003
2 Hewitt Avenue
Greystanes 2145
Enquiries 9896 6794
www.augustinians.org.au/communities/greystanes.html