Remembering February 7th, 2009
I drove from Sydney to Melbourne on what was to become known as Black Saturday. When I got out of the car to buy petrol at Wangaretta, the temperature there was 47 degrees. A week before the fires that broke out on February 7th, a significant heatwave affected south-eastern Australia. From 28–30 January, Melbourne broke temperature records by experiencing three consecutive days above 43 °C (109 °F), with the temperature peaking at 45.1 °C (113.2 °F) on 30 January, the third hottest day in the city's history.

On January 7th the temperature in Melbourne reached 46.4 °C (115.5 °F). Because power lines fell in high winds in Kilmore East and the Hume Highway was closed. Fortunately the ABC turned to full-time broadcast of the conditions and I was able to listen to that news that reported at one stage that there were hundreds of fires! We were diverted from the highway and directed to a safe route to Templestowe. 173 people died in those fires; 415 people were injured; over 1,000,000 wild and domesticated animals died; 450,000 hectares were burnt; 10,000 kilometres of fencing was over 2,000 homes were destroyed

Pope takes the "heresy hunters" to task
Robert Mickens

The mainline Churches in the northern hemisphere have just concluded the 2024 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. And by many of the comments that appeared on social media during the January 18-25 commemoration, it would seem that at least some English speakers who describe themselves as "traditional" or "loyal" Catholics saw this annual ecumenical event as a propitious time to remind Christians who are not in communion with the Church of Rome that they are heretic!

Some of these "staunch" Catholics were particularly steamed that Pope Francis allowed the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Justin Welby, and his fellow Anglicans to celebrate the Eucharist at St. Bartholomew's on the (Tiber) Island in Rome. This is the 10th century church that John Paul II designated during Jubilee 2000 to be a shrine to the "new" Christian martyrs of the 20th and 21st centuries.

In our Province, each local community has a leader elected by the Provincial Council and each ‘Passionist’ parish has a parish priest appointed by the Provincial with the consent of his Council, and with the approval of the diocesan bishop. In our Province, these two roles are exercised for four year terms beginning on February 1st in the year following the election of a Provincial and Council. Our Provincial Council was elected in July 2023 (see below with Fr General, our own, Joachim).

So, on Thursday February 1st, the community leaders and parish priest appointments (announced in November) take effect until 31st January 31st 2028. There are some other appointed roles that will also take effect on that date.

The Origin of Playing Cards
The exact origins of playing cards remain unknown, but it seems certain they were invented before 1000CE by the Chinese. Playing cards were likely brought to Europe from the Mameluke empire of Egypt. In this era, the card decks had a variety of words, shapes, and concepts on them including goblets, gold coins, polo sticks, and swords. Today’s paper playing cards seem likely to have also evolved from the original patterned rectangles Mahjong tiles.
Playing cards began to appear in Europe in the 1370’s.  The first European playing cards were hand-painted and viewed as a luxury good. They were probably imported by merchants, gypsies, or crusaders. At that time, polo was unknown in Europe, so the polo sticks were transformed into batons which, together with swords, cups and coins, are still the traditional suits of Italian and Spanish cards.
A Latin manuscript written in 1377 by a German

Hope against all hope….La Croix
"I believe that this profound human thirst for infinite happiness, which we all feel at times, is the most real thing there is. To hope for it is to live in the real world," insists Timothy Radcliffe, the former Master of the Dominican Order (1992-2001) who is now a best-selling spiritual writer and preacher.

Pope Francis selected 78-year-old Dominican Timothy Radcliffe to lead a retreat last October for the 363 members of the Synod assembly just before they began their deliberation on synodality and the future of the Catholic Church. The theme he chose for that retreat was "Hope against all hope". In an exclusive interview with La Croix's Christopher Henning, Friar Timothy explains why - even in our perilous times - there is reason for hope as we begin 2024.

La Croix: Q How would you define hope?
TR: During the general chapters of the Dominican Order to which I belong, we have always noticed a fascinating difference between "Latin" and "Anglo-Saxon" cultures. Latin cultures generally begin a discussion by defining terms. We Anglo-Saxons find it more fruitful to let the full meaning of words emerge gradually. So, I am delighted that you are faithful to your French cultural heritage!

Feast this Sunday: The baptism of Jesus
It can seem a bit soon to be celebrating Jesus’ baptism this Sunday, however in the Eastern church, the birth of Jesus, the Epiphany and the Baptism of Jesus are celebrated as the one feast. This is to show the continuity between Jesus entering the world in Bethlehem, being recognized by all peoples through the Magi as the Messiah (Christ) and the initiation of Jesus into his work by being baptised in the Jordan river. Jesus’ baptism highlighted that he was a true member of the human family. He shared their longings for liberation.

Perhaps one aspect of this feast we might reflect on today, is that no one becomes a commissioned follower of Jesus without having to grow and develop in his or her understanding of what this vocation means. Growth in faith was real for Jesus too.

All peace begins when two parties are in dialogue with each other. The following poem, Taking Sides, by Rabbi Irwin Keller, captures the important role of anyone who provides a safe-space for opposing parties to converse, without condemnation. Listening with care and honest enquiry is where a spark for peace may commence in victims and antagonists alike.
Today I am taking sides. I am taking the side of Peace.
Peace, which I will not abandon,
even when its voice is drowned out by hurt and hatred,
bitterness of loss, cries of right and wrong.

I am taking the side of Peace
whose name has barely been spoken
in this winnerless war.
I will hold Peace in my arms,
and share my body’s breath,
lest Peace be added to the body count.

I will call for de-escalation even when I want nothing more than to get even.
I will do it in the service of Peace.
I will make a clearing
in the overgrown
thicket of cause and effect
so Peace can breathe
for a minute and reach for the sky.
I will do what I must to save the life of Peace.
I will breathe through tears.

Advent 4 – Love
During the Sundays of Advent we have focused on a theme for each week…Hope Peace and Joy and lit a candle at Mass. This Sunday we focus on Love

Some years ago I played the song “Love Changes Everything” during a parish mission session. Afterwards a woman angrily complained to me, “That song should not be used in church. It does not mention God even once”. I replied, “St John’s gospel tell us that Jesus said, “God is Love”. After looking a bit stunned she walked away.

In the church we have so often complicated gospel love by putting the emphasis on rules, on do’s and don’ts, wheras in fact it is rather simple. Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you”!

Nowhere is love better described that in St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul begins in Chapter 13 by saying, “I may speak in tongues or use the language of an gels, but if I don’t have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” That lady who spoke to me after the missions session was a noisy gong. She missed the whole point – that Love changes everything!

Christmas has been cancelled in Bethelehem this year
This will also be the case in Gaza, Jerusalem, Nazareth and Amman, This is an act of solidarity for all the children who have been killed in the current war. The crib in the Lutheran church (see below) is made from rubble. The baby Jesus is amid the rubble and all the other characters including the baby’s parents are in the perimeter, looking for him amid the rubble.

This year began with one war in the headlines and ends with two. The war in Ukraine, so shocking when it began in February 2022, is now a dismally familiar feature of the news, grinding on as destructively as ever with no end in sight. The war in Gaza, which began less than two months ago, has already changed the Middle East forever.
The governments of many countries, including the US, had been hoping that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—as old as Israel itself—would simply disappear over time as younger generations of Palestinians resigned themselves to statelessness. Now we know better. Despair may sometimes lead to resignation, but more often it leads to rage. Meanwhile, beyond the headlines, other conflicts carry on largely unnoticed in this country: civil wars in Sudan and Myanmar, savage gang violence in Haiti. Behold, the world brings us bad tidings, again and again. Peace on earth? Not now or anytime soon.