Padua News. Message from Father Fabian

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1 Padua News Padua News is the official quarterly Newsletter of Issue 22 This issue of Padua News is also published on the Parish Website December 1, 2011 St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Cnr Exford & Wilson Roads Melton South, VIC 3338 Tel: Fax: Parish Priest: Father Fabian Smith Pastoral Associate: Sr. Patricia Stone rsj Message from Father Fabian In four weeks we will be celebrating Christmas, the birth of Our Lord and Saviour; the day that begins a season of great joy. This festive season lasts for forty days, beginning on the 25 th of December and concluding on the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, on the 2 nd of February. Padua News Committee Dolores Turcsan Edwina La Rose Lorraine Tellis Kim Barton Godwin Barton Anne Consiglio Doris Bonello If you are interested in being part of the Padua News Committee, please contact any one of the committee members or paduanews@yahoo.com.au Thank you. Advent is the season of preparation for Christmas and its forty days of celebration. For so grand a season, we have only just four weeks to prepare. Often this scarce time we have seems to be occupied with decorating the Christmas tree, putting up lights around the house, writing Christmas cards, shopping for presents, etc. These customary things are very important. However these things must not be a cause of frustration and chaos in leading up to Christmas, but rather ways in which we prepare for the coming of our Lord into our hearts and homes and to those of our families and friends. As you decorate your Christmas tree this year, may it remind you of the Tree of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise. In the Middle- Ages, a play was performed on the Eve of Christmas to commemorate the highly popular episode of the Tree of Paradise; Adam and Eve would tower on the stage together with the devil, disguised as a serpent, Eve picking an apple and Adam eating it. Original sin was symbolized on the night of the 24 th of December and was expiated by Jesus birth on the 25 th. Even when the religious tableaux were abandoned, the Tree of Paradise continued to be associated with Christmas in many people's minds. Continued on next page As you drive through the streets

2 Issue 22 Page 2 Padua News Father Fabian s message (continued from previous page) and walk through malls and see lights and wreaths, may it remind you of the Christian symbols used to call to mind the coming of the Messiah. The Wreath itself means victory as Christ s victory over sin so He can save us. The circle symbolizes Christ s eternity. As a circle has no beginning and has no end, it is a symbol for God, who is eternal and thus without beginning or end. The evergreens mean He is ever with us, and they are usually pine branches or holly that are used as a base that represents anticipation, newness, renewal and His everlastingness. The red berries of the holly represent the shedding of Christ s blood. The Advent wreath consists of a circular support of green branches, without flowers, on which four candles are placed. Four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. A tradition is that each week represents one thousand years, which add up to 4,000 years from Adam and Eve until the Birth of the Savior. Three candles are purple and one is rose. The purple candles in particular symbolize the prayer, penance, and preparatory sacrifices and good works undertaken at this time. The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, when the priest also wears rose vestments at Mass; Gaudete Sunday is the Sunday of rejoicing, because the faithful have arrived at the midpoint of Advent, when their preparation is now half over and they are close to Christmas. The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord s first coming into the world and the anticipation of His second coming to judge the living and the dead. There is a fifth candle which is white and is placed in the middle of the wreath, which represents Christ and is lit on Christmas Eve. Everywhere you go this Advent you will see something of Christmas, be it the nativity scene, Christmas trees all decorated, wreaths, lights; hear Christmas carols and get to feast on the best fruit cakes, short-breads and fruit pies, etc. May all that you see, hear, taste and share this Advent season prepare you to welcome Jesus into your hearts anew on Christmas Day. I wish you all happy preparations during Advent and a very Holy and Joyful Christmas. All forty days of it! Father Fabian Smith, Parish Priest St. Anthony s Bingo 25th Anniversary - October 14, 2011 St Anthony s Bingo has been operating for 25 years. The bingo volunteers had their celebrations on Friday evening, the 14 th October, with dinner provided in the school hall. Being such a momentous occasion, everyone who attended received a lucky door prize plus the volunteers received their customary block of chocolate. We played 15 games of Bingo with free prizes. All who attended had a great time. A little bit about Bingo: We operate on a Tuesday evening with the doors opening at 6:30pm: eyes down at 7:30pm. We offer great value for money with 41 games costing just $12. This includes the Mr. Jackpot game where prizes of $30,000+ are possible. Two and a half hours of entertainment, finishing at approximately 10:00pm. More details on games are available on the Parish website. Bingo is the lifeblood of the Parish and we would not be able to operate without this source of income. Over the past 25 years, the Parish has received approximately $1.5 million from Bingo activities. Bingo has only been able to operate with the help of many Parish volunteers. Some of our volunteers are non-parishioners and we must thank them for their charitable efforts. Without their assistance, I am sure Bingo would have closed down years ago. Currently, there are 69 volunteers on the roster. Anyone who would like to assist as a volunteer need only contact the Parish Office ( ) or Sam Chiles (Bingo Supervisor: ). Submitted by: Sam Chiles

3 Padua News Issue 22 Page 3 World Youth Day at St. Anthony s World Youth Day (WYD) was initiated by Blessed Pope John Paul II in It is a week-long youthorientated event held every 2-3 years in a different country around the world (Sydney hosted WYD in 2008). WYD 2011 was held in Madrid, Spain and attended by approximately 2 million people from countries all over the world. As St. Anthony s Youth Group is still quite new, we were unable to travel to Madrid this year, but we wanted to celebrate the day together and in our own way. Sunday the 21 st of August was the day of the WYD Closing Ceremony and Mass so we decided this would be our celebration day. We started by participating in the 10.30am Mass, with youth group members doing readings, being altar servers, taking up the collections and bringing up the gifts. At the conclusion of the Mass, Karina and Irene presented a computer presentation about the history of WYD and its significance. Following Mass we held a gathering in Padua Hall and started as our meetings always do; by praying that our faith and friendships would grow and that we would enjoy our time together. We then enjoyed a meal that was generously donated by some of our Youth Group families. After lunch, Joseph led a discussion about the meaning, presence and importance of faith in our lives. He also educated us about some Spanish Saints, namely Blessed Miguel Pro, who would wear disguises in order to celebrate Mass in secret at a time of religious persecution in Mexico during the 1920 s. In addition to religious reflection and prayer, we had time for fun and games too! We formed teams and played Spanish Bingo (bingo, but using Spanish words), basketball and celebrity heads. We also sang songs, played music and listened to some original songs by some of the Youth Group members. We watched videos about previous WYD events; images and clips were projected in the hall on the big screen throughout the day. In the evening we gathered in the School Staff Room and crossed our fingers as we waited for the webcast to connect. Thanks to the technologically gifted in our group, we were soon watching live as the Closing Ceremony and Mass were being celebrated in Madrid, Spain. We all took joy in seeing the crowd flying their nation s flags. Each of us gave a little cheer each time we saw flags that were special to us, such as the Samoan, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Spanish and of course Australian flag, to name a few. It was amazing to think that about 2 million people from around the world had gathered in Spain to listen to Continued on next page Pope Benedict XVI celebrate Mass, plus all the others around the world who were watching on TV or over the internet, and our little group in

4 Issue 22 Page 4 Padua News World Youth Day at St. Anthony s (Continued from previous page) Melton South was watching too. The fact that most of the Mass was spoken in Spanish didn t worry us at all because we were lucky enough to have a couple of interpreters in the group. So with their help we did our best to follow and participate in the Mass, kneeling and praying at the appropriate times. We had a great turnout of 20 people who participated throughout the day and it was great to see everyone joining in the activities that the leaders had organised. Spending the whole day together meant we all had the chance to get to know each other a little bit better and this event has served to give our group a look into the possibilities of the future, such as travelling as a group to a future WYD event. We are also deciding on an official Youth Group name and training some more leaders to take our group into the future. So look out for some exciting things to come from the St. Anthony s Youth Group! There are many people that helped in bringing such an event into fruition and we would like to take the time to thank them all. Firstly, to the Parish and School, thank you for the use of your facilities and assistance. Thanks must also go to the various families for donating a meal to help us celebrate this day. Last but not least, thank you to Father Fabian and our leaders Mark & Karina Dunne and Brad & Hayley Tellis, for taking the time to organise this wonderful event. There are many more upcoming events and opportunities to participate in our growing Youth Group so please feel free to come speak to us after Mass and get involved! Submitted by: St Anthony s Youth Group Reflections of World Youth Day 2011-Madrid Upon reflection, the WYD2011 in Madrid, Spain was very different in many ways compared to WYD2008 in Sydney which I was fortunate enough to attend with my parents. This time around, not only was I the youngest pilgrim from a total of over 450pilgrims from the Neocatecumenal Communities of Australia, this was also my first overseas trip! Soon after leaving Melbourne on the 12 th of August and flying for over 22 hours, we finally touched down at Heathrow airport, London the following afternoon. We boarded our coaches and drove another 4 hours to Chedworth where we spent the next three days. We carried out Popular missions - (singing and announcing the Gospel in public areas) in Bath & Bristol-where recent riots took place. The Bishop of Cliffton celebrated a Eucharist with the Aussie pilgrims on the last day. We then boarded a flight for Madrid early the next morning. My group arrived in Madrid at 7:00 am Continued on next page and immediately boarded a coach to Aussie Pilgrims

5 Padua News Issue 22 Page 5 Reflections of World Youth Day 2011-Madrid (Continued from previous page) After spending the night on the barren landscape at Cuatro Vitentos airfield, we celebrated Mass with the Holy Father. The Holy Father encouraged the young people to stay firm in their faith. The following day, was the Vocational meeting organized by the Neocatecumenal Way. More than 100,000 youths from the Way attended this meeting. Kiko Arguello the initiator of the Way gave a strong catechesis encouraging the young people to think seriously about religious vocations. go to the meeting with all the Australian pilgrims and bishops of Australia. At the meeting there were 4000 Aussie pilgrims, 22 bishops and Cardinal Pell. I managed to speak to Cardinal Pell who was very happy to meet up with a St. Patrick s student! After the meeting, we left for our hotel in Salamanca. We went to the town of Alba de Tormes for a mass in the Sepulcher of St. Teresa of Avila. After lunch we returned to Salamanca where we had some down time. We went to Segovia for a Eucharist in St. Joseph s Monastery. After that we visited Parrel s Monastery and returned to Salamanca. Popular missions on the streets of Bristol (England) After taking 3 trains and walking 3 kilometers in 40 degree heat, we arrived in Cuatro Vientos. Unfortunately, the weather was not kind to us and the vigil was interrupted by a big thunderstorm. Strangely enough, the storm held off till the consecration was over. During the Exposition of the Holy Eucharist, there was such a silence from the over 1.5million youths that could not be explained. More than 4,000 young men stood up for the priesthood and 3,000 girls for religious life. Each young person received a blessing from the many bishops and cardinals present. Out of this number, 27 young people were from Australia! For the next 3 days, we had home stay visits with Spanish families where we experienced the Spanish lifestyle. On August 26 th, we boarded our long flight back to Melbourne. Brazil 2013 here I come! Submitted by: Jonathan Antony We also visited Avila (the home town of St. Teresa of Avila) where we went to Saint Joseph s Convent which was the first convent founded by St. Teresa. Then we went to the Monastry of the Incarnation where St. Teresa first became a nun and then we returned to Salamanca. A number of nuns shared their call to the religious life which was quite moving. Now I understand better what nuns do behind closed walls. They pray a lot for each of us! After Morning Prayer the next day, all nine coaches headed to Madrid for the Vigil with Pope Benedict. Meeting with Pope Benedict

6 Issue 22 Page 6 Padua News Parish Mission in May 2011 (REPRINT - originally printed in Padua News Issue 21) The Padua News Editorial Committee would like to apologise for a mistake in the extract from English poet H.W. Longfellow in this article published in Padua News Issue 21 Our Parish held a five day Mission from May 1, 2011 to May 5, This year s Mission was conducted by Fr George McInnis from the Mercy Fathers of Kentucky, USA. We are grateful to Fr Fabian for making this happen. The Mission consisted of daily homilies or conferences as Fr George called them. What is a Mission? It is akin to a tune up or firing up of our faith as Fr George so aptly put it. On introducing himself, Fr George told us a nice anecdote of how his family, being originally Protestant, visited a Catholic Church in Kentucky, which was largely a Protestant state. They were seeking something more and deeper in their lives. On attending the Catholic services they were impressed, and wanted to join up. They met with the Parish Priest to make further enquiries and the family did join later and over the years, grew in their Catholic faith. Fr George, their only son, later became a Catholic Priest. Their story is a good example for Catholics, who often take our faith for granted. The first day of the Mission coincided with the Feast of Divine Mercy. Fr George explained the meaning of the Lord s Mercy and complete Trust in Him. During the five days we were fired up by Fr George s enlightening and inspiring homilies. Fr George spoke of various topics: Truth, Trust in God, Christ s eternal presence in the Tabernacle, The mysteries of the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Trinity and the Ten Commandments. Fr George devoted his last homily to God s gift of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be our Holy Mother. In Fr George s elaboration on the Holy Eucharist he made an illuminating comparison of the various sacrifices of mankind throughout history - Abraham s obedience to God in offering his only son and the sacrifice of the lamb in the Old Testament to Christ s sacrifice at Calvary as the Lamb of God in the New Testament. This sacrifice is now carried on at Holy Mass. The five days were well attended by our parishioners and those from nearby parishes. The final day of the Mission concluded with Holy Mass, Benediction and a heart warming get together afterwards. A lasting impression of the Mission in Fr George s words is that we can all be Saints. We have the exemplary lives of Saints and Holy people throughout history and we have the greatest life ever lived, Jesus Christ. So let us arm ourselves with the fruits of the Mission and shine our lights so others will follow. In the words of the English poet, H. W. Longfellow:.. Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime And departing leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.. Submitted by James Tellis Father George with some of our parishioners.

7 Padua News Issue 22 Page 7 The 2-piece band! The table centerpiece! Father Fabian and his helpers Hey, don t finish the food!!!! Dancing the night away! Performance on the night Checking out the Filipino cuisine! Submissions for next newsletter All Parishioners are welcome to give their suggestions. If you have any article of interest for the next newsletter, please submit them to the Parish Office or to: paduanews@yahoo.com.au by January 1, 2011 Editorial Policy The Padua News is approved by Father Fabian Smith prior to printing. The editors and Father Fabian reserve the right to edit all articles submitted. Articles may be reproduced with permission from the writer and editor. Some of our parishioners trying out the Bamboo dance!

8 Issue 22 Page 8 Padua News Please support our sponsors, without their generous support Padua News would not be possible. Mention you saw their business in our newsletter and let them know we are working for them. WANTED Advertisers for Padua News Would you like to advertise your business? Do you know someone who runs their own business? Wide circulation, including publication on the WEB. Next issue due in March 2012 Contact Anne on or paduanews@yahoo.com.au