Pentecost…our new season
It is difficult to explain the phenomenon of attraction or ‘calling’. Each of us has experienced it, but it remains a mystery to us. There are human experiences such as when people meet, seemingly ‘by chance,’ that seem much deeper than coincidence. People from primitive cultures have these kind of experiences all the time. They refer to it as the work of ‘spirits’. Western rational thinking tends not to understand the working of spirits, and maybe most of all the working of ‘the’ spirit.

Despite this, in everyday ways we say things like ‘she has her Mother’s spirit’ or ‘He showed real spirit’ or ‘I felt inspired’. This language reveals that we understand that the spirit of one person can live in another and this is what we celebrate at Pentecost!

Sr Brigid
Brigid celebrated her 60th anniversary of religious profession a
couple of days before Holy Cross. She is not one to seek or want
the limelight. Fr Denis wrote and published a nice
acknowledgement for the occasion which many of you would not
have seen.
“Sr. Brigid CP is currently a member of her Congregation’s General
Council, lives in community with Sr. Karen CP in Melbourne, and is
closely associated with the Province’s own mission through her
participation in the Come Away Retreats at Holy Cross, Passionist Companions and through
her membership of the Holy Spirit Province Formation Commission.
3
Sr. Brigid became a professed member of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion in May, 1965
and after her formation, she trained as a High School teacher in London. She first taught for
13 years in Dublin and then in Birmingham (UK). In 1982 her life took a different turn as she
moved into a social work role within the education sector. This led to her training as a
social worker after which she worked in the UK with children and families in St. Helens and
London until 1995 when she moved into hospital and prison chaplaincy and then into
hospice pastoral care.

Chris’ new book:
Dr Chris Monaghan CP has released the second book in his
series. The first book, See with the Eyes of the Heart, was well
received, and his new release, titled Perspective, continues the journey. The book is
available for purchase through Garratt Publishing, but Chris receives better financial
benefit for the community if it is purchased directly from him. Last Sunday, many
people picked up a copy, and it is available for just $25.
If you’re interested, you can email Chris directly he’ll set aside a copy for you to
collect (chris.monaghan@passionists.com and).
I was fortunate to get a copy when Chris first announced the book's release. I’m
grateful to him - it’s a meaningful reflection on the beauty of everyday li

Chris’ new book:
Dr Chris Monaghan CP has released the second book in his
series. The first book, See with the Eyes of the Heart, was well
received, and his new release, titled Perspective, continues the journey. The book is
available for purchase through Garratt Publishing, but Chris receives better financial
benefit for the community if it is purchased directly from him. Last Sunday, many
people picked up a copy, and it is available for just $25.
If you’re interested, you can email Chris directly he’ll set aside a copy for you to
collect (chris.monaghan@passionists.com and).
I was fortunate to get a copy when Chris first announced the book's release. I’m
grateful to him - it’s a meaningful reflection on the beauty of everyday life and
Scripture, and it’s wonderful to support the work of one of our own.

Jerome and the coins
Jerome continues to enjoy sorting out coins. He
showed me an interesting coin which he
explained that it used to be popular when he
was younger. It says “I am a Catholic, in case of
an accident please notify a priest.” Does anyone
remember that? I’m sorry if you can’t remember
you might still be a kid! Jerome told me how
parents would hide the coin in the clothes of
their kids. Jerome was kind and decided to say to
me “you can keep it if you want.” I kept it because I might need it someday,
otherwise I will keep it for memory. It is good to see how Jerome enjoys sorting out
coins.

Essay on Pope Francis by Tri:
For the next three weeks we will be reading from Tri’s
essay on Pope Francis as we honour him. Thank you Tri
for sharing your essay.
Pope Francis invites members of the Church to be
merciful disciples of Jesus for the contemporary world.
By Van Tri Cao.
Part one of three parts:
Introduction
“Mercy is God’s identity card.”1 Pope Francis expressed this belief this in an
interview with Andrea Tornielli in July 2015. Francis is the 266th Pope of the Roman
Catholic Church. His real name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born on 17th December
1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to an immigrant family from Italy. He is the first ever
elected Pope from Latin America, where he experienced many challenges and
upheavals related to political, economic, and social instability, as well as issues of
social injustice and concentrated power. In the 1970’s, Argentina, where Bergoglio
grew up, went through a period of political and social unrest, with the emergence of
a military government and the mysterious disappearance of many political followers.
These events undoubtably influenced his personality, and his way of acting as Pope

Community activities:
Brian is away on holiday until May 23rd—we wish him a restful and well-deserved
break, as he works incredibly hard. You know what they say: “When the cat’s away,
the mice will play.”
However, on the very day Brian left, Tri, JD, and others were definitely not following
in those playful footsteps. Instead, they were hard at work, cleaning!
In the photo, you can see them tackling a major fridge, freezer and kitchen clean-
out, among many other tasks. So, we can safely say that these “mice” aren’t exactly
playing—perhaps inspired by the great example set by our “cat,” (Brian) who quietly
and willingly does so much cleaning and tidying around the centre, helping make it
feel more like a welcoming home.

This has been quite some week with regards to the newsletter. We’ve had the
celebration of the Triduum, followed immediately by the death of Pope Francis, and
today we celebrate Anzac Day.
As I am beginning holidays tomorrow, I wanted to begin preparations for our 60th
Jubilee of Holy Cross, which we will celebrate on May 25th, two days after I return.
Beginning with a brief overview in this week’s newsletter, and continuing over the
next four weeks, with Erick as editor, there will be a brief history of the district and
the founding of Holy Cross, as well as a highlighting of some significant developments
over the sixty years.
For these reasons, the weekly newsletter is much larger than usual, although it
includes a few pages of photos, and there is the Easter newsletter of the Cross and
Passion sisters which is attached.

Good Friday reflection
Scientists have been able to use DNA from skeletons in
London, to reveal secrets from the Black Death. In one
case they were able to determine that a man had been
breast-fed as a baby, had moved to London from
another part of England, suffered bad tooth decay in
his childhood, worked as a labourer, and died in early
adulthood from bubonic plague!
The Black Death or plague, is thought to have killed
at least 75 million people, including more than half
of Britain’s population, mostly within a two year
period in the 14th century. There have been further
outbreaks including a serious outbreak in the 17th
century. Isolated cases still occur today. It is very
difficult to imagine what it must have been like to have people in your family or
work place, dropping dead, literally, all around you. How could you have hope? A
popular belief at the time was ‘This is the end of the world’.

The Afternoon of Christianity: The courage to change by Tomáš Halík,
A review of the book by Dr John Saxbee (Retired Anglican bishop of Lincoln)
“‘We have empty hands and empty nets, we worked all
night and caught nothing,’ said the tired and
frustrated Galilean fishermen to the wandering
preacher standing on the shore. Many Christians in a
large part of our western world have similar feelings at
this time. Churches are being emptied, and tens of
thousands are leaving the Church.
The Christian faith no longer confronts militant atheism or harsh persecution,
which might awaken and mobilise believers, but instead there is a far greater
danger — indifference.”
Tomáš Halík, a Czech Roman Catholic priest and psychotherapist, might be seen as
just another purveyor of a long list of woes, forecasting, the terminal decline of
religious belief and practice. But Halík’s challenge to organised religion, in general,
and the Roman Catholic Church, in particular, is gilded with hope for the future of
faith predicated on affirming, and fanning into a flame, a hunger for spirituality
seemingly at odds with the siren voices of secularism.