Letter 120 (3rd June, 2022)

Greetings and welcome to this edition of the newsletter. This will be my last effort this time round as I am also going on a holiday for a couple of weeks. The next couple of newsletters will be sent out by Fr. Erick CP, so if you have any items of news or interest for those letters, please forward them to Erick. I believe that Fr. Brian will then resume editorial responsibilities following his time away and a Provincial Council meeting. Thank you to all of those who have been encouraging of my efforts, and who have sent items to be included in the newsletter.

Passionist News
This coming Sunday is the Province Feast Day and the following article has been supplied for your information:

Passionist Companions “Come and See”

A reminder of the upcoming Companions “Come and See” session to be held in a few weeks’ time at St. Paul Apostle parish in Endeavour Hills. The session, which will be facilitated by Srs. Brigid and Karen, will be held on Saturday morning, the 18th of June from 10.00 – 12.00, with a sausage sizzle to follow.

The Passionist Companions are a group of people who meet together monthly to reflect on the Passionist charism and support one another on the journey of life. There is a group who meet at Holy Cross and another group who meet in the parish at Endeavour Hills.

More information can be obtained by contacting either Gerard Daly at gerard.daly23@bigpond.com, or Oswyn Trindade at oswyn.trindade@gmail.com

This week, Sr Brigid was elected to the leadership team of her Congregation – the Sisters of the Cross and Passion. Brigid will bring vast experience, a deep spirituality and profound wisdom to her Congregation. The Cross and Passion sisters are striving to ‘lean forward’ into the future, and Brigid will certainly assist that movement. The members have elected Therese O’Regan CP from Ireland and based in England, as Provincial, Carmen Gloria CP from Chile, and Brigid CP. They will elect one more member of their leadership team. We extend our congratulations, good wishes and prayers to Brigid.

St Gemma Galgani – feast day Monday May 16th
Gemma was born in 1878, in Camigliano, near Lucca. She was eight when her mother died of TB. When she was seventeen, she nursed her brother Eugene day and night until he died in 1896, also of TB. Her father was a pharmacist and had been prosperous but these deaths, and a prolonged sickness of others in the family took all his money. Soon the family was reduced to poverty. The situation got worse when her father got cancer of the throat and Gemma nursed him until his death in 1897. So, before Gemma was twenty, experienced the sorrow of seeing both her parents and brother die.

Once again this Sunday we acknowledge and give thanks for our mothers – those present amongst us and those who have gone.

Mother’s Day is an opportunity for us to remember and pray with thanks for our own mothers and the mothers in our extended families and our faith community

We also remember those reflected in this accompanying image.

THE PASSION OF JESUS IS TOTALLY THE WORK OF LOVE. YOU SHOULD NEVER LOSE SIGHT OFTHIS. A reflection by Br Cao Van Tri cp
(Tri is studying theology at YTU and living at Holy Cross)

At the time of Paul of the Cross, people in his home town had a deep devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ. However, instead of speaking about God’s love through the mystery of the Cross, they spoke about the sufferings of people as being the result of their many sins. Paul of the Cross said that “the world is sliding into a profound forgetfulness of the most bitter sufferings endured by Jesus Christ our true good of our love, while the memory of his most holy Passion is practically extinct in the faithful.” (1747 account Paul wrote to present the life and purpose of the Congregation).
For Paul of the Cross, the Passion of Jesus is totally the work of love and so we should never lose sight of this. Indeed, Jesus the Son of the Living God, chose to live a human life: He chose to suffer as we suffer; to die as we die. Many times, I have wondered why Jesus, the Son of God, had to suffer. He is God and He could save us in many ways, not just by suffering and dying.

What has happened to spirituality….Part 2

We know that many religious practices reflect the world view and morality of an earlier era and some have been made challenging or irrelevant in the light of today’s worldview. There have been many challenges posed by scientific discoveries and they have not always been without conflict and struggle. Galileo’s claim (1564-1642) that the earth was not the centre of the universe and that it moved around the sun, did not fit with how the church and science of the time understood the world or how it had shaped theology. Because his view contradicted Scripture, Galileo was accused of heresy and he was forced to recant his theories.

What has happened to spirituality….Part 1

It is suggested that in England one thousand years ago, most people never travelled more than fifteen kilometres from their place of birth. The roads were poor, the hospitality inns were run down and means of travel were limited. People’s lives were tied up with their nearby neighbours and there was little awareness of happenings ‘in the outside world’. This reality us how different modern life is from every previous generation that has lived on earth.

Admittedly, a thousand years is a long time ago, but even just one hundred and thirty years ago in 1893, the first private motor vehicle was unveiled in Sydney. Ten years later, the Wright brothers flew their plane one hundred metres! One hundred years after that primitive flight, the Sojourner spacecraft landed on Mars and began collecting and photographing rocks and soil matter and sending the photos back to earth!

Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need
Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need is conducting an emergency appeal to
support the Church in Ukraine. Funds are being sent direct to clergy and religious on
the ground assisting people. Please visit: www.aidtochurch.org/ukraine
There will be some donation forms at the back of the chapel on Sunday.

Palm Sunday…the Passion according to Luke
Every Good Friday we hear the same version of gospel. It is John’s account. On Passion (or Palm) Sunday this year we will hear Luke’s version. Luke and John have many differences. In fact each of the four gospels describes how Jesus died, in a different way.

In Mark, Jesus “screamed in a loud voice and breathed his last ” and the text says that “hearing his cry and seeing how he died” the Roman Centurion said “Indeed this man was the Son of God”.

In Matthew, Jesus cries out with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. Then he breathed his last”. the Roman Centurion: “seeing the earthquake and all these things he exclaimed, “Surely he was the song of God”

In Luke, Jesus says, "Father into your hands I commend my spirit" and the text says that “following all these events, ”The Roman Centurion says This man was truly righteous”.

In John, ”Jesus says, “It is accomplished, and bowing his head he gave up his spirit”. There is no Roman Centurion mentioned, and it is the only gospel that mentions Mary was there at the cross.