Prayer Calendar for Exams & Assessments Nov 2007

Click for the bigger pic.

Exams are round the corner so do work hard and pray (not play) hard. Say your rosaries, especially during this month, and keep each other in your prayers.

For those who have not given me your exam dates, please do so asap so that we can pray for you! Just send an email to cosdu.melbuni@gmail.com =)

Sister Theresa's Farewell Mass and Dinner

I recall last year when I first came to Melbourne and really couldn’t accept the reality of living alone, cooking and eating alone and I had issues blending in with my cohort who were already studying together for 2 yrs. One evening towards the end of the first sem I had a real breakdown which was very depressing and I contacted Sister. Sister not only called me more than once that night but coached me on the phone and guided me and it really helped me get through the semester. I am really grateful for that.

Ramesh

Indeed, Sister Theresa has been a comfort to many of us through our own difficult times. We will always remember her as peaceful and loving and who is always concerned about us. To acknowledge her work for COSDU for the past five years, and to bid her farewell as she heads off on her new journey, we held a Farewell Mass and Dinner for her last Friday.

Bishop Hilton Deakin and Fr. Michael Mckenna graced the occasion by celebrating the Mass, which was held at All Saints Church in Fitzroy. Dinner was then provided at the Presbytery, but not after a slide show presentation of COSDU photos, speeches by Ramesh and Jean, and the presentation of our gift to her, a notebook with quotes
and COSDU pictures.



As her birthday is within the same month, we bought her a cake and surprised her with an advance birthday celebration. (Amanda did make a cake initially, but for the
decorations, we couldn't get the cream to stay. The fruits did stay, but on the cake for less than 10 seconds. We decided it was simply too messy to be packed in a box, transported and presented, and so in order to commerate our effort in trying, we took photos, ate up the one we made, and bought her one instead. We tried. =P)




Sister Theresa will be in the Chaplaincy from 29 Oct till the end of Nov, and will be in Melbourne till the end of this year.

Integrity of Life

Our first session after the Spring Break was given by E Wei on the 'Integrity of Life' - on the Church's stand towards abortion. We were first given two videos showing actual abortion procedures, followed by discussion questions on how we felt about abortion after watching those two clips. The clips showed the raw nature of abortions, bringing us to a realisation of the actual brutality of it. E Wei went on to present to us the definition of abortion and the methods of abortion at the different stages of pregnancy, as an elaboration on how cruel abortion is. Some of these methods include the suction aspiration, which is inserting a suction curette into the womb to tear and suck the baby out into a bottle at an early stage, and the partial birth abortion, which delivers the baby's entire body except for the head, decapitating and killing it.

The Church's stand to this is clear: we support life. Life begins at conception, when an embryo is no longer just a simple cell from his or her father or mother but a combination of both, with his or her own growth, and no one has a right to terminate this life. After much discussion, we recognized that women who undergo abortions do so under complex and most probably emotionally traumatic situations, such as rape or incest, and we would never be able to fully comprehend nor guess at their situation, emotions and the difficulty of choice they have to make. We can never ever judge them, as we do not have the right to do so, and will fully give them any support we can provide for them to make the right choice, which is to not abort. Abortion is an inherently bad choice, and we condemn this act as sin. However, we do not condemn the sinner, and we should never sideline nor condescend women who have made this decision to abort.

Many pro-choice activists argue that women who undergo abortion due to rape and incest suffer a lot of emotional trauma and so they should be allowed to end their suffering by undergoing abortion. Does this mean that people suffering from depression should be allowed to take their lives as part of ending the suffering? Catholics recognise suffering as part of life, and that our value should not compromised for the sake of avoiding or terminating our own suffering.

We also learnt about the Principle of Double Effect, which states that even though the Church opposes all direct and intentional killings of the child, it does not condemn procedures which result in the loss of the child as a secondary effect, such as miscarriage due to medical procedures necessary for the mother's health.

This session brought us in touch with some of the many moral issues that our society grapples with, which is, sadly, the mere definition of life and our integrity on it. I am sure most of us felt a stir in our hearts, whether in coming to a sad realisation that this society is selfish, or whether in finding our own voice and resolution in this matter.

Sports Day 2007

Our annual event Sports Day was held last last Saturday on 15 Sept at Albert Park. The weather forecast predicted a rainy day, and gigantic clouds loomed at the start, but a gap in between the clouds spread, and by the middle of our games, the sky was perfect blue.

At 9am, E Wei and I waited for the majority of the people at Bourke St, and boarded a tram to Albert Park, while some of the others (kudos to Jian Sheng, Amanda, Janan, Maria and Hobart) prepared the food and brought it to the venue in the wee hours of the morning. Upon our arrival, the chicken wings were well soaked in marinate and waiting to be barbequed.

The participants were then split into four teams - blue, red, yellow and purple. And then the battle started, in rounds of captain's ball and touch rugby, and the Blue Team emerged the winner.



After all that hard work, we had lunch by the barbeque pit. The production line could not meet the demands of the market fast enough and so we had a pack of vultures waiting by the side for chicken wings, sausages, and stir fried mushrooms with onions, meanwhile feeding ourselves with bread and tomato sauce. The food turned out to be really good, especially the chicken wings (kudos again). After prize giving, and playing a few more rounds of soccer on our own, we packed up, took a group pic by the playground, and went home feeling worked out and immensely satisfied.

Apologetics

Have you heard of the term 'Apologetics' and wondered what it means? It actually refers to the defence of something that you believe in, which could be anything, ranging from Atheist beliefs to our Roman Catholic faith.

Anastasia covered the topic of Apologetics: what it means, why we should know how to defend our faith, the common misconceptions of our faith, and how we can clarify and stand by what we believe in. Throughout the session, it was heartening (to me at least) to see the way we questioned and debated, presented our own understandings and definitions, and explored certain difficult concepts togther. Below are some of the points that was presented:

1) We should know how to defend our faith and be ready to do so when the occasion calls for because we should
“Always be READY to make your DEFENSE to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the HOPE that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”
1Peter 3:15-16

2) We should also believe that 'being saved' is a process: we Were saved, by the coming of Christ; we Are Being saved, by our own behaviour and actions; and that we Will Be saved, by God's grace even though what we have done is essentially not sufficient.

3) The term 'Scola Scriptura' -the bible only- was introduced. Some people attack the RC church using the Bible, quoting from it and using the Word against the teachings of the Church. But, the many books of the Bible was picked, compiled and validated by the Catholic church. So if the Church's teachings are all a lie, does that mean the Bible is too?

4) We recognise that the Pope and the ecumenical council are infallible in the teachings of faith and morality. This is because we believe that any such decisions are made in the joint action of the Spirit of God and themselves.

5) We do not worship the Saints. We honour them as righteous people and ask them to intercede for us. This is akin to asking our friends and families here on Earth to pray for us to God. Since we recognise the Church as a body of not only those on Earth, but also those who are in heaven, we also recognise the Saints as family.

6) Similarly, we honour Mother Mary as the mother of God, who knows her Son better than any of us, and so her prayers will be more powerful. We do not worship her nor recognise that she has any authority. Some might argue that she is only the mother of the earthly Jesus and not that of the divine. However, Jesus is Man and God in one person. He does not have split personalities and his identity of both Man and God cannot be separated.

Merdeka

It seems uncanny that the three National Days that by-passed us in the last two months have fallen on, or near, Friday COSDU sessions. Anyway, here is the video clip showing the Malaysians' loyalty on Merdeka:

The Liturgy of the Word and of the Eucharist

The previous two sessions focused on the two aspects of Mass - the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Celina, Janan and Ramesh talked about the preparations needed to be done by lectors, who are the people who read the first and second readings at the lectionary.

A lector is one who proclaims God's word to the assembly, and to proclaim God's word, we must be a living word ourselves, for we cannot proclaim what we do not live. Like St. Paul, we should say "Not I, but Christ in me" as the Word burns in our hearts.

A lector should regularly read and reflect on the Scriptures, hold God's word close to his or her heart, listen for God's word in prayer and through others, and practise good communication skills with others in truth, respect and dignity.


Celina, Janan and Ramesh then gave a short Trivia at the end of the session, which proved to be extremely fun, competitive (what's new) and informative, as we enjoyed ourselves and learnt much about the many details involved in the celebration of Mass. Some questions included:

What is the difference between a chalice, a ciborium, and a corporal?
Are we allowed to follow the priest in saying the “Through Him, With Him, In Him…”?
Why is there a need for different colours throughout the liturgical year and what do they represent?


The following Friday, Sister Carol Hogan gave the session on the Eucharist and its connection to Social Justice. Some of the topics she touched on included the mandate of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and its objectives, as well as the plurality of definitions and concepts of the Eucharist given by the Church, and how they have changed over the years.

The Council's mandate was and is to promote justice and peace in the world, in the light of the Gospel and of the social teaching of the Church (art. 142).

Question: What is Holy Mass?
Answer: The Holy Mass is the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, really present on the altar under the appearances of bread and wine, and offered to God for the living and the dead (The Penny or Baltimore Catechism, 1930, no. 277).

We cannot delude ourselves: by our mutual love, and, in particular, by our concern for those in need we will be recognized as true followers of Christ (cf. John 13: 35; Matthew 25:31-46). This will be the criterion by which the authenticity of our Eucharistic celebrations is judged. (John Paul II: Apostolic letter: Mane Nobiscum Domine, 2005 par. 28).

In the sacrament of the altar, the lord meets us, men and women, created in God’s image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27) and becomes our companion along the way. In this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for us, to satisfy our hunger for truth and freedom. (Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic exhortation, Sacramentum Caritas: The Sacrament of Love, 2007, par. 2).


One of the pictures that Sr. Hogan showed during the session was of a sculpture, 'Jesus and the Samaritan Woman'. The suffering Christ symbolises Christ’s gift of himself to us and his presence in the suffering people of our world. It also portrays the divine life that flows between the faithful Christian, symbolized by the Samaritan woman and Christ himself. While participating in the Eucharist we are reminded that Christ gave his life for us. Thus the Eucharist is an invitation to us to give our lives for others and to be people, who are committed to social justice. The overall structure of the sculpture signifies the Eucharist and Social Justice in a full circle.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
Stephen Broadbent
Chester Cathedral, England

Join us this Friday, 7 Sept 2007, at St. Carthage's at 6pm, as we take part in this 'sacred banquet of communion with the Lord's body and blood' together as a family away from home - COSDU. Registration for the upcoming Sports Day will be taking place, and more details will be provided.