New beginnings
I’ve just had a ‘new beginning’, or rather am currently living through a new beginning. I began my new ministry as the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle on Friday, 17 March and so am still adapting. I’m getting used to: a new home, new people, new ministry, new ‘job’, new challenges, new systems, new environment, new culture – new everything! Well, almost everything.
Finding the right words about farting
Flatulence, or farting as it is commonly known, can be both excruciatingly embarrassing and immensely amusing. It’s not surprising that the Whoopee Cushion, which produces a loud noise resembling a fart, has been a popular practical joke device since it was invented in the 1930s!
Pathways building brighter futures
The increased demand for childcare places over the past decade has led to a growing shortage of early education staff - a fact which encouraged Emma Losurdo to utilise a pathway straight from Year 12 to full-time employment in the sector.
Heavenly lifelines
Newcastle locals, Benita Tait and Deacon Kevin Gadd have long possessed an interest in the divine. At the time COVID-19 first emerged, they were one year into a four-year course to become spiritual directors. Fast forward to 2023 and some might say their graduation from the course last November, alongside nine others, is a ‘God send’.
Status update: hopeful
Human rights advocates and refugees nationwide breathed a collective sigh of relief last month when the federal government announced an end to Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEV).
Singing from the same hymn sheet
The Mahoney family has spent years making children happy by performing pantomime on stage, but it is a lifelong commitment to community service that has earned them the greatest applause.
A sign from above
As soon as you enter the grounds of Mums’ Cottage in Holmesville, located on the outskirts of Newcastle, you can tell it is a place of welcome.
With smiling volunteers, coffee and biscuits, a pay what you can op shop and a variety of support groups, it’s a space where anyone can find a helping hand.
Lead with a voice from the heart
As Australians prepare to partake in a referendum to establish a Voice to Parliament, discernment will be required.
With rhetoric surrounding both the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ vote expected to escalate, Catholics may find solace in the words delivered by Pope John Paul II to First Nations people during his visit to Alice Springs in 1986.
“Your culture, which shows the lasting genius and dignity of your race, must not be allowed to disappear… Your songs, your stories, your paintings, your dances, your languages, must never be lost.
… And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others.”
