Dads
We send warm greetings to all the Dad’s associated with Holy Cross or the Passionist Family. This is a very special vocation in a man’s life. There are several phases.

The first begins when a new Dad, young and inexperienced, but totally enraptured with his new child, is determined to be the best he can, and is often over-confident in his capacities.

The challenges of life sometimes intrude unfairly. This can be caused by sickness, grief, unemployment or personal problems. The Dad has to try his best to continue to shower love on his child (or children). Failures are inevitable.

When Crisis Comes…..Richard Rohr OFM
Living in a transitional age such as ours is scary: things are falling apart, the future is unknowable, so much doesn’t cohere or make sense. We can’t seem to put order to it. This is the postmodern panic. It lies beneath most of our cynicism, our anxiety, and our aggression. Yet, there is little in the biblical revelation that ever promised us an ordered universe.
The whole Bible is about meeting God in the actual, in the incarnate moment, in the scandal of particularity. It is rather amazing that we ever tried to codify and control the whole thing.

Some reflections on silence
During COVID-19 lockdowns there are many opportunities for silence. Some people try to escape silence, some embrace it, others have no choice. Perhaps some of these reflections can help us appreciate the value of silence.

Everywhere you look these days, you see people watching television: in homes, in airport lobbies, in restaurants. If they're not watching television, they're driving their cars listening to their radios or talking on cell phones. By filling up their hours and minutes with chatter, they further distance themselves from the spiritual world.
(Anam Cara)

A woman said to me on Wednesday, “The hardest thing about a seven day lockdown is the first fourteen days”.

Given we in Melbourne are extending our sixth lockdown for a second time, I thought it might be interesting to reflect a little this week on ‘locks’. As we know, a lock is a device that prevents something from being opened. Most locks require a key, combination code or a password to be opened.

In Melbourne we’ve got used to living in lockdown over the past twenty months.

A lockdown is a security measure either to keep people where they are or to keep others out. In prisons, a lockdown means prisoners are confined to their cells.

Some people are locked in for their safety. It is common in aged care facilities for dementia patients to be locked in. Sometimes children are locked in a classroom for their safety.

Of course Eddie Maguire introduced the term ‘lock it in’ with regard to having made a choice, now it is saved and cannot be changed

Mary of the Cross MacKillop
This Sunday we celebrate the feast of Mary Mackillop, Australia’s first official saint. It is good to recall something of her life and to note the part Julian Tenison Woods played in her life and mission.

Mary ‘s parents emigrated from Scotland and she was born in Melbourne, in January 1842. She was the eldest of eight children. One brother became a Jesuit priest and another a Good Samaritan sister. She was well educated but her father was often out of work. At age sixteen Mary began work as a clerk and helped support her family. Two years later she moved to Penola in South Australia, to become the governess to her Aunty’s children. She educated the children in her care and others who lived in poverty including aboriginal children.

Supporting children through Covid 19
This reflection was provided by Sr Brigid CP
It must be challenging being a parent, a grandparent, a teacher or a carer during this season. A few thoughts may help in relation to children.
What do you think children worry most about at this time? What does this season we are experiencing look like for children? It is important to remember that children are all different in how they experience and deal with emotions and like adults they will have many feelings and questions. Some children will mirror how their parents are dealing with issues.

1st World Day for Grandparents and Elderly: July 25th
A message from Pope Francis (abridged)

Dear Grandfathers and Grandmothers, Dear Elderly Friends, “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20): this is the promise the Lord made to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. They are the words that he repeats to you today, dear grandfathers and grandmothers, dear elderly friends. “I am with you always” are also the words that I, as Bishop of Rome and an elderly person like yourselves, would like to address to you on this first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly.

Newly-appointed Passionist Family Group Movement National Coordinator Paul Traynor plans to reinvigorate and grow the almost-40-year-old organisation by reaching out to younger families, and inviting those from other cultures to join their family across Aotearoa.
“We cannot do what we do, and have done in the last 30 odd years, if it were not for the generosity of people like Rob and Lynn Hill, John and Mary Ellen (Leen) and Paul and Linda (Darbyshire),” Mr Traynor said. “Rob and Lynn became the first Directors of the Movement, and they maintained that role for 26 years, which is just extraordinary, and did a fantastic job,” he added. The Leens and the Darbyshires led the Movement in the last five years.

Many would have watched Luke’s Thanksgiving Mass on Sunday at ‘The Fort’ in Brisbane which coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Passionist Youth Team of which Luke was a member. The outdoor venue is used on Christmas Eve and overlooks the Brisbane river and across to Mount Coot-tha. Luke gave a wonderful homily highlighting the way a local Christian community can shape lives, as happened for him at the informal, welcoming and committed ‘Fort’ community. Festivities were restrained because of COVID, but we had an enjoyable sunny afternoon.

This week I am writing from Brisbane, where we are in lockdown until 6pm on Friday, and maybe beyond that. For the past sixteen months Ray Sanchez and Paul Mercieca have not seen another Passionist in Brisbane. At the present time, Chris Monaghan, Kevin Hennessy, Justin Durai-Raj and myself are all here in lockdown. Our visit has been very welcome for Ray and Paul and we are enjoying it too. For them it has gone from famine to feast for a few days. Chris expected to stay just one night and be back in Melbourne on Wednesday. I had planned to be here for a Mass with Luke on Wednesday and returning to Melbourne today. Kevin and Justin had planned to return on Monday after the Passionist Youth Team weekend, so that might still happen for them.